Hold on
by Picoroo
Summary: A helicopter accident that kills Reno leaves everyone devastated and grieving. But when an investigation gives Tifa hope that he may have survived, she must sneak deep into an enemy camp to find the truth out for herself. ReTi. FINISHED
1. What Happened?

The young redhead re-adjusted his headset with one hand while the other fiddled with the controls of the helicopter, long slender fingers wrapped around the main control.

He sighed, blowing a strand of fiery red hair out of his eyes.

"RENO!" He almost jumped out of his skin at the loud voice through his headphones. Does that girl always have to be so hyper.

"Geez…" He said in annoyance, rubbing his ear under his headphones. "No need to shout Elena. I can hear you, you know?"

He heard a small forced chuckle from the other end.

"This isn't funny! I nearly got deafened." He said, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

* * *

Only a couple of hours ago, Rufus Shinra, president of Shinra, had given him a mission to fly over Enemy lines and find the co-ordinates of the enemy camp.

* * *

"_Let me guess, I'm the only one who can do this?" he asked after the briefing, raising an eyebrow._

_Rufus gave a small nod. Reno sighed, it was, after all, his Birthday that day, it wasn't really that important, but still... 'not that anyone actually cares' he thought. _

_Just as he was about to leave, Rufus said one more thing to him. "By the way," he paused, "there's a very high chance that you won't be coming back," He said sadly, his expression hidden by the veil he still wore, even if he didn't need it.

* * *

_When he left, no one was there, Rude, Tseng, no one, they had all buggered off home once they were let off duty. The only one there was Elena, who had to be there because she was watching over the whole mission. He could see her now in his mind, sitting at the desk, various screens in front of her, notebook and pen ready to write everything down. Most likely doodling from sheer boredom.

'_Nice to know people care about you isn't it?' _he thought, sighing, eyebrows furrowed.

"Reno…" Elena sighed down the mike, as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. Reno picked up on the sad note in her voice.

"Elena. Please don't do this." He said, glancing down at the ground far below him.

Suddenly the helicopter jolted forward slightly.

"Whoa!" Reno checked the dials to see if anything important had been hit. Luckily, nothing had. His slender hands gripped the controls, keeping the aircraft balanced.

"Reno? Is everything Ok?" he heard Elena ask. "What's happened?"

"Elena, enough with the questions, a shot must have clipped the tail or something, that's all. Let's get this over with before anything important, namely me, gets hit, 'kay?" He peered out the window. "I'm here, sending the co-ordinates." He said, pressing a few buttons, Elena scribbling the numbers down in a notepad.

"Right! Got 'em, now get the hell out of there," Elena ordered, smiling slightly, her hopes rising. She had accidently over heard the comment from ShinRa earlier. '_There's a very high chance you won't be coming back.' _They were only getting the co-ordinates right? How dangerous could it be?

"Roger that" Reno grinned, expertly turning the helicopter around.

It was then that the aircraft jerked forward violently, throwing Reno into the dashboard, smacking his head hard.

He lifted his head and looked at the dials, his eyes widened when he saw they were going haywire.

"Oh, crap." He muttered, "This can't be good."

"Reno? What's happening?" Elena asked, her voice breaking up over the microphone, something had definitely been hit bad.

"Got hit. Look's really bad. Dials, controls, everything is going absolutely haywire! It's becoming difficult to control." The redhead explained, sounding calmer than he felt, just like he'd been trained to. Desperately trying to keep control of the helicopter, he was doing everything he could to make sure he sounded composed and not make Elena panic on the other end. He felt warm blood trickle down the side of his face.

"Reno!" Elena cried, forgetting her training in her worry.

Reno ignored her as he gripped the controls, trying to steer the helicopter away from the camp. It was absurdly difficult. The aircraft was becoming extremely difficult to handle.

Managing to get it away from the camp, he looked out the side window, only to see how high he actually was. He wasn't afraid of heights, far from it in fact. However, he knew if he was to fall from this height, if the helicopter stopped now, well. There was no way he was going to survive this. Even if he were to jump, and on the off-chance survived, it was likely he would be caught by whoever was on patrol, and killed anyway.

"E-Elena." Fear was starting to show in his voice. He swallowed, composing himself so he didn't sound as anxious as he was. Might as well die here rather than at their hands. Though technically this was by their hands, but he chose the ignore that fact.

"Reno, a-are you ok?" Elena asked, fear and alarm crept into her voice.

"Elena, there's no way I'm getting out of this one." Reno sighed as he accepted his fate. He heard Elena gasp on the other end and could just picture her face, eyes widened, both hands over her mouth and nose and he just knew she sat up straight suddenly, the way she always did, one of the many things she did that he jokingly made fun of her for.

"No…" she whispered, so soft he could barely hear. "No!" more stern this time. "No, you are not giving up yet. You can't. Not today…" Her voice had slowly gone down in volume. "Reno… Reno, please. Everyone's at Tifa's, it's your birthday remember, everyone's there, waiting for you. Tifa called up earlier. You can't leave them. You can't leave me…" she sobbed. "Who else can I yell at?"

"Really? All for… me?" Reno whispered, almost to himself. No one had ever done that for him, ever.

Just as he began reaching for the controls to give it one last try, another shot rang out closer to the front this time, sending the large aircraft spinning. The loud sound of the propellers slowed and ceased, throwing and eerie silence over the entire aircraft.

There was no point in trying to jump out; he would die anyway from the height he was at.

"Reno…. Where's the propellers gone?" Reno heard Elena ask, cracked up slightly.

Reno looked out of the window to see the ground getting nearer at an unbelievable speed.

"Well… see you around…I guess." The redhead muttered, taking off his headset, and sitting back, sighing deeply. Not the most amazing last words, but what else could he say.

Then everything went black.

* * *

"Reno?" Elena stared at the screen as the little green dot that was Reno, blinked out, and a beeping noise came out of her headphones, indicating that the connection had been lost

He was gone.

Elena buried her head in her arms and cried.

* * *

A/N: This is a rewrite. I noticed just how little sense this made with the rest of the story. Mainly because the plot took a sudden left turn and ended up almost completely different from the original plan. Well, actually this isn't really rewritten, I just went through and changed a few bits, and added things here and there.

To those who have just started reading, ignore all of that. And welcome, thanks for reading this far without hitting the backspace button, much appreciated ^^ I do hope you leave a review before you do leave, be it nice or not, anything is welcome.


	2. The Aftermath

Hello again. I know this is a day earlier than what I said, but I'm busy tomorrow so here you go.

Thanks for the reviews ^^ I know it does sound a bit like a Reno/Elena but when you think about it, If one of your friends has just died what else would you do?

anyway, here is chapter two.

X-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-X

"Where are they?" and impatient Cloud asked out loud, dropping his head onto the table in exasperation.

(Almost) Everyone was waiting patiently for Elena to bring Reno over for his 'little' surprise.

"Probably just got caught up with something, that's all." Tifa reassured him with a smile, although she was also worried about where the pair had got to. She looked around the room; everyone was happily talking and drinking, waiting for the pair to turn up.

There was a knock - no, more like a bang - on the door, everyone suddenly went silent. Tifa grinned, walking towards the door.

Opening the door an inch and peered around the edge.

Only to see a miserable, soaking wet Elena, alone. Her smile began to falter.

She opened the door enough for her to slip out, closing the door behind her.

"Elena?" she asked, looking worried, "Are you ok? Where's…"

"Not coming." The younger of the two said, sneezing loudly, then sniffing, rubbing her nose.

"What? Why?" Tifa asked, her smile completely disappearing. She sighed, "Come on, let's get you dried off." She opened the door a couple of inches so Elena could slide through, Tifa following, once again closing the door behind her.

Elena stood in the room, arms wrapped around her body, shivering, until Tifa put a gentle hand on her back, guiding the smaller girl towards her room, past all the staring faces.

Once in the room, Tifa threw her a towel and a dry change of clothes, and then disappeared out the room.

Elena stood, staring at the door, silently for a few moments, before undressing, drying herself off and changing into the change of clothes Tifa had given her, listening to Tifa tell everyone outside they would have to wait a little while longer to find out what was going on.

A few minutes later, Elena was dry and sitting on Tifa's bed in her slightly too big skirt and jumper, fighting back tears.

The door opened and Tifa came into the room, sitting down next to the blonde on the bed.

"Now do you reckon you could tell me -?"

"He's dead." Elena cut her off, before she could stop herself, and before she knew what was happening she was sobbing into Tifa's shoulder.

The raven haired girl put both arms around her, gently rubbing her back and whispering soothing words. She rested her chin on top of the blondes head, staring straight ahead, eye's wide in shock. '_He can't be.' _she thought. '_No, this can't be happening.'_

"There, there Elena" She whispered soothingly. "It'll be alright." Even though she knew it won't be, not for while anyway.

"No. No it won't be" Elena sniffed, lifting her head to look at Tifa, tears streaming down her face. "He's dead" A fresh wave of tears flowed from her eyes and she buried her face back into Tifa's shoulder.

"I know sweetie, I know." Tifa said, closing her eyes as she rocked the smaller girl back and forwards, comforting her gently.

A single tear slid down her cheek.

It wasn't long before Elena's tears gave way to shuddering breaths. Shakily she sat up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and sniffing.

Tifa took a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to the blonde.

Elena dried her face, and then looked up at Tifa.

"Are you OK now?" Tifa asked. Elena gave a small nod.

"Thank You" She said quietly.

"Your welcome" Tifa said, giving a small, sad smile. "Now do you want to tell them or shall I?" She asked.

"I will." Elena said confidently, although she felt quite the opposite of confident. "But I-I may need a bit of m-moral support." She added, stuttering slightly.

"Well then. Let's get this over with" Tifa said, standing up and holding out her hand. Elena took it, letting herself get pulled up, and not letting go even when she was standing.

Opening the door, Tifa led Elena out, Elena still gripping Tifa's hand.

Tifa spoke first, getting everyone's attention. "Hey! Everyone, listen up!" She shouted, shutting everyone up.

Cloud, who was sitting closest, took one look at Elena and instantly knew something was really wrong. Her eyes were red and her face was tear-stained. '_Reno… what mess have you got yourself into this time?'_ He thought, closing his eyes and sighing deeply.

"Urm…I'm sure you have all realised Reno hasn't turned up." Elena told them. '_Congratulations miss obvious.' _Cloud thought, a forced smile playing on his lips.

"There was a last minute mission we had to do. A-and Reno, being one of the best, was the only one who was able to do it at the time." Elena took a deep, shuddering breath, before continuing her explanation. "But it went wrong. The Helicopter was hit, badly." She took another breath. Tifa laid an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Reno's dead." She blurted out, another sob breaking out as she collapsed to the ground.

A wave of eerie silence washed over the group as the news sunk in. At first the overall feeling in the room was denial. Most were shaking their heads and attempting to deny the fact. But one look at Elena and Tifa, who had also started to sob quietly into the blonde's hair, changed that.

The first to accept seemed to be Cloud. He dropped his head into his hands, eyes closed in respect and sadness. '_Just as we were beginning to get along.'_

Yuffie buried her head into Vincent's shoulder, sobbing, her small shoulders shaking. Even Vincent, even though he was reluctant to come in the first place, seemed slightly taken aback and saddened at the news.

Rude was staring blankly into space, dazed and grieved at the news of his partner's death. Tseng had a hand on his shoulder, while hissing furiously into a mobile phone. Despite his angry tone his face seemed distressed and saddened.

Despite how most of the room was filled with former enemies, it was shocking how easily Reno could win anyone over.

Tifa looked up, tears still streaming down her face, at the room around her. Sighing unsteadily, she rested her chin on top of Elena's head.

This is going to be a long week.

X-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-X

Thanks again for reading this far. School is starting next week so i may not be able to update. I'll do what I can though.

See you all in the next chapter


	3. Lending A Helping Hand

You know what, forget what I said about updating. I've got too much coursework and revision to do. I think I'm just going to have to update when I can.

By the way, When writing this I found myself listening to 'Kill Hannah' a lot. Try then while you read this (especially 'The Collapse' Ended up listening to that on repeat during one writing session)

Anyway, Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot. Here's Chapter 3 ^^

* * *

50 miles outside the city, on the contrary, things couldn't be more different.

A young woman, just turned 21, slipped out of the large hall, music pounding in her head. It may have been her Birthday party, but the loud music and dancing had all got too much and she just had to get out.

Her mocha brown eyes searched for the quickest escape route to fresh air and freedom. She found the door she was looking for and, like a ghost, ran towards it, bursting out into the twilight air. She took a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill her lungs. Smiling, she opened her eyes to look at the sinking sun through the trees.

Glancing back at the flashing lights of the disco, she slipped into the trees of the nearby forest. As she walked, she fished in her pockets, trying to find a ribbon or something to put her hair up with. When she found nothing she sighed in annoyance, instead tying her long midnight hair in a knot at the top of her neck.

Coming to a cliff edge, she stopped, looking out over the mountains. She sat down, her legs hanging over the edge. She smiled, feeling free for the first time in months.

For the past three years, she had been working for Furia, the power-crazy, obsessive compulsive that was trying to take over the world. Her job was training the newbies how to fight part-time, while being sent out on missions etc. for the other half of her time. She hated every minute of it. With very little freedom and days off, she treasured times like this, where she could kick back and relax, where she could just lie down and watch the world go by.

She was sat there for half an hour, watching the sun sink below the mountains, and the dark clouds in the distance move further and further away, when a loud crash jolted her out of her thoughts.

Jumping to her feet, she spun towards the sound. Her eyes widened when she saw what had made the noise.

A helicopter had crashed right on the edge of the cliff, the tail hanging off the edge. The crash she had heard was the tail half breaking off and smashing against the cliff wall. It was now only hanging on by a sheet of metal, and slowly pulling the helicopter off. Smoke was pouring out the side.

She ran over, silently wondering why she had not noticed this earlier. She peered inside the smashed glass and gasped at what she saw.

There was somebody in there!

* * *

Round the pilot's side of the aircraft, the door was hanging off its hinges, dented and smashed up. The young woman ran around to that side, hoping she would b able to get him out before the tail pulled the entire thing off the edge.

The man seemed unconscious, and looked a mess. Carefully, the woman lifted his hand, pressing two fingers against his wrist. A slow, but slightly unsteady beat. He was alive, but needed help.

Cautiously she cut the belt, and gently pulled him from the aircraft. She was surprised at how light he was.

Quickly and cautiously, she dragged him away from the smoking aircraft. Once they were far enough away, she checked the survivor over for any injuries.

No fatal wounds, but there was a large gash across his chest, which had ripped both his shirt and jacket. His leg seemed completely broken; one of his bones in his calf seemed to be in two pieces. She skimmed her long fingers over the leg. A clean break though, quite easy to fix. Standing up, she used a penknife to cut long strips out of her long skirt. Then, kneeling back down, she went to reposition the two pieces of bone. There was a quiet grinding sound and a click. She quickly moved on to wrapping the makeshift bandages tightly around his leg, to keep the bone in place.

Once she had finished, she took in his uniform. ShinRa. She had been asked to deal with one of their lot before. One of the girls, blonde short hair. At least that's what she remembered. She had let her get away, after pretending to fight for at least ten minutes. She was punished afterwards.

The man she had got out of the wreck had the same uniform, though minus the tie.

She knew she couldn't take him back to HQ. He would be killed instantly.

A slight movement caught her eye. He moved his head towards the horizon, pain etched into his features. His eyes slowly flickered open, showing his mako blue eyes.

"Hello" She said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ears.

"W-who are y-you?" The man stuttered, barely audible.

"My name's Emily. I'm going to help you." She replied softly. It seemed to her as if he just rolled his eyes. "And you are?" She asked.

He didn't say anything for a moment. Then finally, "R-Reno." He muttered, before falling unconscious.

"Ah." Then she mentally smacked herself for not recognising him. Not long ago she had been shown photos of all the TURKs before her latest bunch of trainees went on a mission to find and kill them. They failed miserably of course, but Emily remembered one particular photo that stuck out. His. Not surprisingly, it was the hair that caught her eye, and there was the fact that he looked so much more different from the others, more, human.

"What am I going to do with you now?" Emily said, even though she knew he couldn't hear her. She closed her eyes, thinking hard.

Suddenly her head jerked up and she opened her eyes as a thought hit the girls mind.

There was an old abandoned cottage in the woods. It wasn't perfect, but there was running water and a place to start a fire, and the best thing was, it wasn't far, only a minute or two away.

Gently, she picked the redhead up, putting his arm around her shoulders. She began the short journey, giving as much support to his broken leg as possible.

* * *

The next day Emily had managed, out of sheer luck, to get the afternoon off.

As soon as she got off training, she ran straight for the first aid room and began getting the things she needed. Bandages, painkillers and spare blankets.

As she was stuffing the blanket into her backpack, a cold voice stopped her in her tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Emily stopped folding blankets and slowly turned on her knees to look up at the man who spoke.

"What do you want, Seyroth?" She asked in exasperation, glaring up at the dark haired man.

"I want to know what you're up to." He said, glaring back at her with bright eyes.

"The Air conditioning is crap in our room so we need extra blankets." She lied. Partially true for once though. It was cold in their room. Might as well drop some off for the five other girls she shared a room with.

"Right." He didn't sound convinced.

'_Thank God he can't see all the medical supplies.'_ Emily thought, making sure she kept eye contact.

"Fine, I'll leave you to it then." He sounded rather annoyed and disappointed, as if he wanted to find something to get her in trouble for.

Emily turned back to folding the blanket and stuffing it in her bag, breaking the staring competition she seemed to be having.

'_Bastard.'_ She thought angrily, hearing his footsteps echo away, down the corridor. She stood, throwing her backpack over her shoulder and grabbing five extra blankets.

Quickly, she ran back to her room, chucked the blankets on one of the beds, before running out the door and into the forest.

* * *

As she approached the house, she thanked whatever higher power that was up there that the fire she had made the night before hadn't burned the place down.

Undoing the latch, she opened the gate and walked up the pathway, humming quietly to herself.

Going into the house, she found the redhead in exactly the same position she had left him on the sofa.

For some reason, Emily found herself glad that he hadn't awoken yet. Maybe it was because she knew this was going to sting like hell, if he was awake.

The fire had warmed the place up considerably and was now only glowing ashes in the fireplace.

Kneeling down next to Reno, Emily opened her backpack, pulling the blanket out and tossing it aside, she wouldn't be needing that just yet.

Reaching into the bag, she took out everything else, and set it out on the floor in front of her.

"First things first." She said to herself, "Let's get that broken leg sorted."

She began by taking off the makeshift bandages she had put on last night. His leg had turned quite an interesting colour overnight, but the bandages had kept both pieces of bone in place. Grabbing the proper bandages, she wrapped them round his leg, and, after making sure it was tight and rigid, she cut the bandage.

She then went on to checking the rest of his body for any more serious wounds. She patched up a few severe cuts on his arms, washing them with cold water then using the bandages to cover them up.

Next, she gently unbuttoned his shirt, grimacing at what she saw, and mentally cursing herself for not doing this the night before. But, of course, she was unable to do any more than clean it with cold water.

In the darkness of the night and with only a flickering fire for a light (the light bulb had blown when she switched it on) there wasn't enough light to see what she was doing the night before. Now, she could see just how deep the cut was. After it had finally stopped bleeding the night before, all she could do was put a pad of cloth over it and button up his shirt to keep it in place.

Now though, she was able to do things properly.

Grabbing a cold, damp cloth, she gently began dabbing at the wound; cleaning out all the dirt, before taking his shirt off fully, ready to wrap the bandages around his chest.

As she pulled it out from underneath his body, two objects fluttered out with it.

Two scarlet feathers.

"How odd..." Emily said to herself, picking up one of the crimson feathers and furrowing her brow, inspecting it. At closer inspection, she found that the feather was actually black fading into red.

Shrugging her shoulders, she put it aside.

Unrolling some of the bandages, she put one arm over Reno's body and her other under his back to pull the bandage through.

Her eyes widened, and she froze in astonishment

"So that's where the feathers came from..." She whispered, mouth dropping open in shock. "This could be interesting..."

* * *

Ok, so I've given him wings, If anyone thinks that is an absolutely awful idea and that it should be changed immediately, please, please tell me so I can work it out of the story now, before it's written in properly.

And as for the names, They actually came from a random name generator. My mind was blank, and I hate making up names.

Once again thanks for the reviews and I'll see you in the next chapter. ^^


	4. Comfort

Ok my loyal followers, Here is another chapter for you to read. (I'm in a really weird mood)

Thank you all so much for your reviews, they mean so much to me. Keep them coming.

By the way get your tissues, not a huge amount happens in this chapter, but it's quite impotant and very sad.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the devastating news of Reno's death had hit everyone, and everyone seemed to be taking the blow in their own way.

Tifa had closed early that night, due to lack of customers, and was silently and absent-mindedly, drying and putting away glasses, lost in her thoughts.

The past two weeks have been really slow. And to make matters worse, she had hardly seen anyone.

The TURKs have been completely closed off. No one had seen or heard of them since they went home that fateful day. There had been some who had got over the news rather quickly, probably due to the fact that they had not known the TURK well or had not gotten along with him at , as usual, had disappeared off again, to God knows where. He hasn't been answering his phone, which wasn't unusual, but Tifa still worried, as always.

Then, Tifa's thoughts moved round to herself. What had **she** been feeling over the past two weeks?

Pain, sadness. They were the obvious ones. But there was one feeling she just couldn't put her finger on. Ever since that day, she had felt an emptiness in her heart, like something was missing, or someone.

Her hand reached for the final glass, and, not looking at what she was doing, she felt around for it. Her arm knocked it, causing it to crash to the ground

"Oh." She stared down at the shattered glass, not moving to clean it up, not moving at all.

Tears began to fill her eyes. She had not cried since the day of his death, not once. Hell, she had even seen Cloud shed a few tears, but she refused to cry. She felt she had to stay strong for everyone else.

And now, two weeks of pain, misery and sadness came pouring out as she fell to her knees, face in her hands, sobbing.

She could faintly hear a pair of footsteps clump down the stairs, stop for a moment, then quickly approach her.

"Tifa? Are you ok?" A small voice asked, as she felt a hand on her shoulder

"Oh, Marlene. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be..." Tifa looked up at the child, wiping her eyes, then began to get up.

"It's ok." Marlene said, "You can cry if you need to."

Tifa, who was halfway up, stared at the youngster, tears once again filling her eyes. She dropped once again to her knees, her hands in her lap and tears spilling over. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck and she buried her face in Marlene's small shoulder. She wrapped her arms around the girl's body, pulling her closer.

And there they stayed for a good while. Tifa sobbing, and young Marlene comforting her, gently stroking her hair. Just like Tifa used to when she ever woke up crying.

* * *

As Tifa was getting ready for opening the next day, there was a loud knock on the door.

"It's open!" Tifa shouted, not looking up, as she wiped down the bar with a damp cloth. She heard the door open and close with a clunk, then loud footsteps, obviously heavy boots, walk slowly towards her.

"Tifa?" Tifa glanced up at the voice, went back to her work, then froze when her mind finally registered who was standing in front of her.

"Tseng? Why are you here?" She sounded surprised as she stared at him in shock. The only reason he would come to see her is...

"Elena." Tseng began, looking down at her with true sadness in his eyes. Tifa began to panic. What had she done? Had she done something to herself? Tifa searched Tseng's face in hope of some sort of clue.

"It seems, that ..." He paused, taking a deep breath, "...Reno's death..." another breath "...has really gotten to her. She's been very closed off, not spoken to anyone since the accident. She hasn't come into work." He paused again, as if to see her reaction. Tifa's eyes were filled with sadness and sympathy. "Rude's been the same, but he has actually been into work." He carried on, "I-I, well, I need you to help her. I can't seem to get through to her."

"Alright." Tifa answered simply, kneeling down behind the bar. She pulled out a sign. On said sign, it read 'Sorry, not opening tonight!' "I'll go see her, I'll do what I can." She paused to put a glass away. "By the way, why'd you ask me?"

Tseng stalled for a second, then answered, "On that night, you were the one that comforted her when she was crying, you managed to hold her together for as long as you were with her."

"Oh, Wait. As long as I was with her?"

"If you thought she was bad then, I walked her home, when we got to her apartment, she really broke down, as soon as the door closed."

Tifa's eyes widened, "Were they really that close?" She asked.

"It didn't seem like it. They were always bickering, He always made fun of her, she always nagged at him. But he was the one that helped her the most when she first joined us. They've connected in some way, like brother and sister."

"Oh, I see. Well I'll head over as soon as I've locked up and see what I can do." Tifa forced a smile.

"Thank You." Tseng said, before walking out.

Tifa waited until she heard the door close before moving.

* * *

An hour later she was standing outside Elena's red Apartment door, feeling a lot calmer than she thought she would.

She pressed to doorbell, hearing the faint ring from inside

"Go away!" She heard Elena shout.

"NO!" Tifa yelled back, "Open the Door!"

Faintly, Tifa heard footsteps pad towards the door, then the rattle of a chain, before the door opened a crack.

"Tifa?" A very messy haired Elena asked, poking her head around the door.

"Hey, I just wanted to check up on you." Tifa explained softly. The door opened fully, exposing Elena to be in over-sized, pale blue pyjamas and pink bunny slippers. "May I come in?" Tifa asked.

Silently, Elena stepped aside, letting her in to her small apartment.

Tifa stepped inside, Elena closing the door behind her. She looked around at the dimly lit apartment. Other than the mess from plates and tissues on the floor, it fitted Elena perfectly.

The Blonde in question began to awkwardly clear away plates and cups from the floor.

"Elena..." Tifa began.

"What is it?" Elena said, gloomily coming out of the little kitchen and sitting on the sofa, legs pulled up to her chest.

Tifa sat awkwardly on the other end of the sofa. "Umm..." She sighed, a determined look passing over her face. "'Lena, get dressed. We are going out." She announced.

Elena looked at her, with a look of pure horror on her face. She shook her head. "No."

Tifa glared at her, "Yes. You've been in here for too long, I need to get you out."

Elena's face dropped. "I-I can't go out looking like this." She said picking up a clump of lank hair.

"I think it's time for a shower then." Standing up and pulling Elena off the sofa and into the bathroom before she had a chance to protest. She shoved her into the room and shut the door.

After a minute or so of silence, she heard the water run. Satisfied she leant against the door, sliding down it to the floor.

Sighing she reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo. It was small, photo booth sized. It was of her and Reno, mucking about in a photo booth. He had an arm around her, she had both arms wrapped around his waist, head on his shoulder. She was grinning like an idiot, he had his tongue stuck out. They had bumped into one another one night at a bar, she had taken the evening off. They had gotten talking, and drunk. Eventually Reno walked her home, not before stopping off in the photo booth of course. They could only afford two pictures between them, he had gotten the other one.

The door opening snapped Tifa back to reality. She fell backwards, her hands stopping her from hitting the floor. "Sorry." She said, getting up quickly, going red with embarrassment.

"S'ok." Elena muttered, cautiously stepping out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her slim form, her short hair twisted in a smaller towel. She walked quickly into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Tifa made sure she didn't make the same mistake of leaning against the door again, instead opting to sit on the sofa. After a few minutes, she heard the hairdryer start up for a few moments, before going silent. Not long after, Tifa heard the door handle rattle, and the door opened, revealing a much cleaner Elena in a black t-shirt and jeans, with black trainers on her feet.

"Is this ok for where we're going?" Elena asked, nervously pulling at the bottom of her shirt.

"It's perfect." Tifa smiled. '_I don't even know where we're going.'_ She thought as she headed for the door. _'Suppose I'll make it up as I go along.'

* * *

_

Tifa kept up a quick pace as they walked into town. So much so that Elena almost had to jog to keep up.

"Tifa." She whined, "Slow down."

"Sorry." Tifa slowed down slightly. "I guess I just want to get out of these crowds."

"Thanks. Now where are we going?" Elena asked.

Tifa faltered for a moment, she couldn't exactly tell her that she didn't know. "Well, Actually, I'm not sure. I was kinda hoping to see somewhere around here that wasn't packed. But I don't think we're going to have much luck."

Elena looked around at the busy streets. "I guess not."

Tifa thought for a moment. "Hang on!" she said as a sudden thought hit her. "I've got an Idea."

"What?" Elena seemed confused as Tifa began to walk in the opposite direction. "Wait, where are you going?" she ran after her.

"I know it was along here somewhere." Tifa was muttering to herself. Then she stopped in front of an old newsagents shop. "Here we go." She mumbled.

"Tifa? What are we doing?" Elena asked.

"Well, since I picked the wrong night to go out, I think we should stay in, grab a crap film, chocolate, ice cream, Etcetera." Tifa explained going into the brightly lit shop, Elena following, still slightly confused. "Then, we can just talk."

"Oh, I see." Elena said, the idea finally dawning on her. "Sounds good. But I thought you wanted to get me out of the house." Despite this, Elena sounded relieved at the news.

"Well, you're out aren't you?"

"I suppose."

Tifa grinned, "Besides, I managed to get you in a shower at least. I dread to think what you would look like if I came by a couple of weeks later." She laughed.

"Don't push your luck." Elena muttered, A small grin appearing on her face.

Tifa smiled innocently. _'At least I got her to smile.' _She thought.

* * *

Thank you all for reading this far. May be a while before the next chapter is up, coursework and mocks coming up

Keep reviewing, It would be nice get up to 20 before the next chapter ^^ Thanks


	5. Waking Up To Reality

Hello Children. Here is chapter five. Sorry, if some of the characters seem a bit OOC.

* * *

Next morning Tifa awoke to find herself curled up on the sofa in her apartment. There was an enticing smell coming from the kitchen and Elena was nowhere to be seen.

She sat up, a small moan escaping her lips. She stretched her arms upwards, and a small crack could be heard as her back clicked. Getting up, the dark-haired girl stumbled towards the tempting smell.

Once in the kitchen, she took a deep breath, her eyes closed.

When she opened them, she was almost surprised to see Elena standing at the stove, a frying pan in her hand and a pile of pancakes on a plate next to her.

"I didn't know you could cook 'Lena." Tifa said.

The blonde almost dropped the frying pan in surprise.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you there." Tifa apologised, walking towards her.

Elena's cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "Not really. I hardly ever used to cook myself. But I do know a few things." She slid the final pancake onto the pile and placed the pan by the sink. "Pancakes being one of them."

Tifa reached up and got two smaller plates out of the cupboard. Elena picked up the teetering pile of pancakes and took them though to the living room, Tifa following with the plates and a can of whipped cream.

"I swear I will eat nothing but salad for the next month after this." Tifa said, staring at the pile in front of her. Elena chuckled, sitting down opposite her. "Well," she said, "They're not going to eat themselves." She grinned, taking two off the pile and putting them on her plate with a squirt of cream.

They ate in silence for a while, until Tifa spoke up.

"So who did cook?" She asked.

Elena looked up, confused and with a mouth full of pancake. She swallowed before voicing her bewilderment. "What?"

"Well, earlier you said that you hardly ever cooked yourself. So, who did?" Tifa asked. "Unless, you got takeouts every night." She grinned, before taking another bite of pancake.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, you are so funny." She said sarcastically. Actually, you would be surprised at who did cook." She took a bite of pancake.

Tifa leaned in subconsciously, curiosity getting the better of her. "Who?" She asked again.

Elena smiled sadly, "Reno." She said.

Tifa's mouth dropped open in surprise. '_He can – could – cook?' _She thought. "I'm guessing he was good?" She said.

"Amazing." Elena said. "Why else would we make him cook every night. Our job often takes us into the evening, so he always used to cook dinner."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, making the two girls jump.

"I'll get that." Tifa said getting up. "You just carry on." She paused, halfway to the door. "But, don't eat them all." Elena grinned innocently, as if to say 'Who? Me?'

Tifa smiled, opening the door, only to find the last person she was expecting to see.

* * *

It had been two weeks since Emily had found Reno in the crashed helicopter, and for two weeks, every night at sunset, she slipped out of her dorm and into the darkness of the woods towards the little cottage.

She gave the unconscious man water and made sure he stayed alive. But over the time she stayed there she began to notice that he was getting thinner. The bandages around his chest were loosening and she feared that if he didn't awaken soon he would not awake at all.

It was on one particular night, that Emily was beginning to notice things that showed that the red-head was getting closer to awakening.

Now, whenever she gave him water, she noticed him swallow automatically, without help or assistance. She once even saw his hand clench into a fist as she was coming into the room.

It was just as she was laying down on a roll mat to go to sleep that he finally awoke. She was at his side in an instant, gripping his hand tight.

After a few moments his eyes fluttered open, revealing clear mako blue eyes.

"Hello." Emily whispered.

Reno let out a small moan. "Wh-where am I?" He croaked out.

"You're safe." Emily said, not really wanting to tell him just where they actually were yet.

"Who are you?" He asked, clearer this time but he still sounded weak. He had been staring at the ceiling, but now his blue eyes focused on the girl hovering above him.

"My name is Emily." She told him. Again.

Reno groaned and put his free hand to his head, as she was still firmly gripping his other hand.

"E-emily?"

"Yes."

"What the hell happened?"

She sighed. "Do you remember anything?"

He nodded, then shook his head. Emily sighed deeply. "Well, I'm not sure about the whole story, but what I do know is that your helicopter crashed about two weeks ago. I found it and got you out. You've got one hell of a gash across your chest and your right leg has been completely broken."

Somehow, the little colour that was left in Reno's face drained as she explained. "So, I've been unconscious for two weeks?"

"Yes." Emily confirmed. "But you have healed amazingly fast. An injury like your broken bone should have taken weeks, even months to heal. And yet, give it another week and you should be able to walk on it."

"A week?" Reno sat up suddenly. "But I've got to get home!" His conversation with Elena was starting to come back to him, as well as what had happened. "They think I'm dead." He whispered, more to himself than to Emily.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't sneak you out of here with that leg." Emily explained. "It'll be-"

"Hang on." Reno cut in. "Sneak out?!" He asked, confusion clear in his voice. "Where the hell are we?"

"Ah."

* * *

One last notice. I am holding audition for two new characters that appear later on in this story. One male and one female. Anything you want. I only have two conditions: They must be Emily's friends and they must be fighters (You can choose the fighting style). Other than that you can choose to make them any way you choose, right down to the hair colour. Just message me the profile and I will narrow it down to the two best, and put them in later on. Thanks for helping and good luck.


	6. Resurfacing Memories

Hold On

Chapter 6 - Resurfacing memories

By Angel015

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Tifa asked, annoyance and shock obvious in her voice.

The person standing – no – sitting on her doorstep was none other than Rufus Shinra. Tifa stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. "If you're here for Elena, I've just managed to cheer her up and I'm sure seeing you will -" She hissed before she was cut off by Rufus.

"I came to see you." He said simply, holding up a hand to silence her.

"Oh." Tifa caught a glimpse of a sad smile from under his hood which was, as usual, covering the best part of his face. "Why me?" She asked.

"I need to talk to you about Reno." Rufus said bluntly.

Tifa's expression softened and she turned her head away, biting her lip. "What about him?" She asked, looking up, a sad expression etched on her face. Rufus said nothing, instead reaching inside a small bag that hung off the arm of his wheelchair.

Tifa waited in anticipation and nervousness of what he was going to pull out.

He held out his hand, upon which two objects rested. Tifa gasped at what she saw, both hands covering her mouth and eyes widening. Sitting on his hand was a small passport sized photo and a pair of very familiar goggles.

"How –?" Tifa began, taking the pair of objects. "Where -?"

"Two of our spies were on a mission three days ago." Rufus started. "Along the border of the enemy territory, at the bottom of the cliff. They came across a crashed helicopter."

"Reno." Tifa breathed, eyes wide.

"Yes. They investigated, trying to work out exactly what had happened."

"What did happen?" Tifa asked, starting to bite her nails, which was something she never did.

"We're still not completely sure, but they did find out was that he was hit twice. One hit very nearly blew the entire tail off. While the other blew a hole in the fuel tank."

Tifa's face was devoid of any colour, all the blood had drained from her face, leaving her pale and shaking slightly, as she tried to get the image of what had occurred out of her head.

"These were all they found." Rufus continued, gesturing to the objects Tifa was clutching. "What we found, odd, was that there was no sign of Reno."

"What?" Tifa's head snapped up, eyes large.

"There was no body. Anywhere. Not in the helicopter, nor anywhere around it." Rufus explained

"Why – Why'd you tell me?" Tifa stuttered, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"Well, to start off, there was the photo. Secondly, we've already tried sending Rude, but he hasn't been on a single mission since the accident and every time somebody mentions Reno's name, he stops listening and walks off. And thirdly, you are one of the best I've ever seen."

Tifa's face was one of confusion. "What do you mean, 'The Best?' The Best at what?"

"There's a chance." Rufus said in a low voice. "A Chance that he is still alive."

"What?" Tifa stared at him, not sure what to make of his statement.

"We need you to help us find out if he is."

"What do you want me to do?" Tifa asked, looking very shocked.

"Well, if he did get out, chances are he would've been caught by one of the guards. So, what we need you to do, is to sneak in and take a look around, especially where they keep the captives.

"Hang on." Tifa said. She had been thinking hard while he had been talking. "What you really want me to do is to be your spy. You want me to sneak in there and leak information back to you." She accused

Rufus stayed silent.

"Am I right?" Tifa asked, hands on her hips.

"No." Rufus said simply. "If I wanted information I would send one of my own spies in. But unfortunately the only people capable of getting him out of there if he is alive, are the ones who have been hit hardest with this tragedy, and are unable to do it."

Tifa sighed. "Ok, I'll do it." She said, giving in.

"Thank you." Rufus said, giving a small nod.

"But I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for Reno." Tifa said quickly, leaning forward slightly.

"Ok, be at Headquarters in five days, I'll see you there."

Tifa nodded. Rufus began to turn, then stopped as a sudden thought hit him. "And don't tell anyone about this. We don't want anyone to get their hopes up." He finished, turning completely and continued down the corridor.

"I won't." Tifa whispered.

* * *

An hour later Elena had gone home to clean her little flat, and Tifa was sprawled on the couch, lost in thought.

"Oh, Reno." She whispered to herself. "Can't you see all the trouble you're causing?"

Closing her eyes she let her memory take her back to the day before the accident.

* * *

Tifa looked tiredly at the clock, half an hour till closing time, and time could not be going slower. She yawned, opening her mouth wide. She let out a small moan and shook her head, trying to shake off the sleepiness.

She heard another yawning sound somewhere to her right. She raised her eyebrows and turned towards the sound.

Sitting on a barstool, hand over his mouth was an annoyed looking Reno.

"I guess it's true then." Tifa said, grinning.

"What?"

"That you can spread a yawn." Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, right. Anyway."

Tifa chuckled at the bored expression on his face. "What can I get you?" She asked, already bending down to fetch his usual out of a fridge under the bar.

"Usual." Reno said, resting his forehead on his hand, sighing deeply. Tifa put the green bottle on top of the bar, taking off the lid and placing it in front of Reno. "Thanks." He muttered.

Tifa noticed the usual liveliness was missing from his voice. And expression. "Ok, you, what's wrong?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

Reno looked up, a, rather fake, innocent expression on his face. "Wrong?" He asked. "What would make you think that?"

Tifa put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows, staring into the redheads mako blue eyes. Reno stared back, with just as much attitude. Eventually it was Reno that lost the competition. He sighed again. "It's nothing major, just a very small problem. Don't worry about it."

Tifa sighed, looking around the bar. It was empty. Stepping out from behind the bar, she walked over to the door and flipped the sign, so it read 'closed'.

"What're you doing?" Reno asked, spinning on his stool to face Tifa.

"I'm worrying about it." Tifa said simply. "Tell me what's wrong."

Reno sighed, spinning back to lean on the bar. "What does it matter, nobody else seems to care." He muttered.

"I do." Tifa told him. "Now tell me." She said, gently as she could.

"It's not too important, but I'm 29 tomorrow. And as usual nobody remembers, or even cares about it. Every year we have a sort of party, if you can call it that, for everyone else. But they've never remembered mine."

Tifa was wide eyed with shock. "I'm sure somebody remembers."

Reno shook his head. "No one." He sighed. "Five years ago was the last time they remembered."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, nearly everyone forgot my birthday this year. Until on the day, when I had to remind them. Do you tell them?"

"Yes. I think I got a card from Elena last year. But that was it, for five years." He rested his forehead on the palms of his hands.

"Oh, Reno." Tifa muttered, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not the birthday thing that's getting me though." He looked up at Tifa. "It's the fact that they don't care enough to remember."

"I'm sure they do, but they just have different ways of showing it."

"I'm sure. What about you? How do your friends show you?"

"Well..." And she began to explain, how each of her friends had little ways of showing her they care about her, without having to go though the embarrassment of actually having to tell her.

It wasn't long before they drifted into normal talk. For the next four hours they talked, eventually falling asleep on one on the long benches along the wall.

When Reno woke up, it was still dark outside, but the sun was beginning to rise. He rubbed one of his eyes with the palm of his hand, blinked a few times, looking around. His eyes widened as he realised where he was.

"Aww, crap. I fell asleep." He breathed, head falling back. It was then that he felt weight on his lap. Looking down he saw a raven haired head on his lap. One of his arms was rested over her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at her sleeping form. Looking over to the window he saw light snow falling outside. To this he grinned wide. He loved the snow. The crisp, cold air, filled with falling white flakes, the crunch of the white stuff under his feet. Yes, this was always the best time of year for him. And yet, he was always working on days like this. Now was the perfect time to enjoy it.

He gently shook Tifa awake. She mumbled something unintelligible , and buried her face into Reno's lap.

Reno sighed, shaking her again, before bending down to whisper in her ear, "It's snowing."

At that, Tifa shot up and stared out the window at the falling white flakes. It was only once she had gotten over the fact that it was snowing, that she realised the position she was in just a moment ago. Her face flushed as she turned to look at the smirking redhead.

He didn't say anything about what had just happened, instead he grinned. "Snowball fight anyone?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Tifa grinned right back, before sliding off the bench and over to the door where she kept her scarf, coat and gloves. "Do you need anything?" She asked, turning around once she had got the objects off the hooks. The Turk was already slipping on a pair of gloves.

"I will need a scarf if you've got one." He said.

Tifa reached up and pulled a plain black scarf off the hooks and chucked it at him, smacking him right in the face.

Reno slowly pulled the scarf down to reveal menacing eyes. "Get outside." He growled, jokingly. "It's payback time."

Tifa grinned throwing the door open, revealing at least 10cm of snow. She gasped at how beautiful the untouched snow was, with the rising sun just glinting off it. What a shame it was about to get ruined. She sighed. 'Never mind' She thought, running out into the thick layer of snow, Reno running after her, scooping up a small ball of snow on the way, ready to throw at her.

But just as he was getting ready to throw, cold ice and snow smacked into his face.

"Right." He said in a low voice. "Now you're really going to pay." He packed more snow onto the ball he already had, and, just as Tifa was bending down to get more snow, snuck up behind her and pressed it against the back of her neck, before sticking it in her scarf.

Tifa squealed as the freezing liquid ran down her back. Then, glaring daggers at the chuckling redhead, hurled a large snowball at his head.

This life and death battle went on for the next hour and a half, until Reno's watch alarm began to beep annoyingly.

"Awwww, why now?" He complained.

"What is it?" Tifa asked.

"Work." He sighed. "I've got the early shift today, some mission later on as well."

"Oh, well, I suppose that's quite important." Tifa said, rubbing his arm reassuringly. "Besides most of the snow around here's gone anyway."

"Yeah. Well I suppose I'll see you later then. Mind if I keep hold of this for a bit?" He asked, holding up the scarf.

"Sure, so long as it keeps you warm." She smiled up at him.

Just as Reno was about to walk off, another thought occurred to him. He turned back and took a step closer to Tifa. "Hey, can I quickly ask you something?"

Tifa nodded, leaning in slightly.

Quickly, Reno leant down, catching her lips in his. Tifa's eyes widened in shock. The kiss was only short, but to Tifa, it seemed to last a lifetime.

Reno broke apart, grinning. "Thanks for listening Teef." He turned walking off down the road.

Tifa seemed to be in shock. She merely nodded as Reno walked off. Then regaining some awareness, she looked up, eyes still wide as saucepans. "Reno, wait!" She shouted. The Redhead in question stopped and turned at the mention of his name. 'What the hell are you doing Tifa?' Tifa asked herself. She rolled her eyes at her inner voice, ignoring it completely, despite the fact that it was right most of the time. She ran towards the redhead, stopping right in front of him. She stared into his eyes for a moment, trying to work out if that kiss was serious or not. Reno stared back, eyes serious but with a glint of true happiness in.

It was then that Tifa decided. Without a word she pressed her lips to his, one hand around the back of his neck. Reno's eyes widened as the shock reversed onto him. Getting over it, Reno closed his eyes and began to kiss back, wrapping his arms around Tifa's slim waist.

Then they broke apart Tifa whispered something in Reno's ear. "Happy Birthday Reno."

Reno smiled hugging the raven haired girl tightly. "Thanks." He whispered back, as Tifa wrapped both arms around him, hugging him tightly back.

They broke apart, staring into each other's eyes.

"You better get to work." Tifa said.

Reno sighed. "Yeah I suppose. Another fun-filled day at ShinRa." He said sarcastically.

Tifa chuckled. "Ok, call on me when you get back, ok? I may just have a little surprise for you." She asked him. "Oh, and be careful."

"Alright." He said. "I'll see you later." He leaned down, stealing one last kiss before turning and walking down the street.

Tifa stared after him, a daft grin on her face. As soon as he was out of sight, she turned and went back inside the warm bar, not realising that she would never see him again.

* * *

Tifa found that tears were beginning to form in her eyes. The more she tried to force them back the more they came. Eventually, she gave up, burying her face into a pillow as her shoulders shook.

Clutched in her hand was a pair of black goggles...

* * *

A/N: Well, what did you think? Let me know, press the little green button and shed some light into an authors world. Pretty please. Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update, I had mock exams and soooo much coursework. But I pretty much forced myself to finish it tonight. the one night i have free.

Thanks to everyone for Reviewing and thanks to **Rekki **and **stars amongst dust **for helping me with the characters. The offer is still open for any of you who have any ideas. More details in the last chapter.

So for now, bye ^^


	7. The Beginning of a Journey

Hold On

Chapter 7 - Beginning of a Journey

By Angel015

* * *

Luck seemed to be on her side that week. Four days later Elena was back at work. Not speaking to anyone mind you, but it was an improvement. Tifa was able to hitch a ride with her when it was time for her to go into ShinRa to see Rufus. She made up some story about wanting to see how everyone was doing, and to make sure they were alright. Which was partly true.

So now, five days after Tifa had finally got Elena out of the house, they were driving along the country road towards ShinRa HQ, in a surprisingly awkward silence.

Tifa stared out the window at the blur of trees and bushes, deep in thought. Her hand was tightly clasped around a pair of goggles and a photo, hidden from the blonde in her bag. The journey seemed to last eternity, a lot longer than it should have, but at last they arrived.

Tifa stepped out of the car, staring at the large building in front of her.

"You coming?" Tifa realised she was frozen in that position, standing by the door of the car, staring up. She nodded, closing the door and following Elena up the stairs, her stomach not exactly feeling like it had butterflies but more like stomping elephants. Her hand unconsciously slipped into her bag, and she was instantly reminded of why she was here. If he was alive, she was going to find him.

Self-confidence restored, Tifa climbed the stairs to the door. As She stepped in she was astounded at what she saw. The place had been completely done over. It looked more professional now than it ever used to. As the door closed, the receptionist looked up from her magazine.

"Tifa Lockhart?" she asked.

"Yes?" The taller of the two replied, stepping forward.

The receptionist smiled warmly. "Good, the president would like to see you. I was just about to call."

Elena seemed shocked, but Tifa just smiled at the woman. "Ok, where shall I...?" She trailed off. The woman got up from behind the desk. "If you would just follow me." She stepped out from behind the desk.

"I'll see you later then Tifa." Elena said, Waving as she backed into one of the doors on the side of the room.

"Yeah, see you." Tifa said, lying through her teeth, but it seemed to convince the other girl. She turned to follow the receptionist out of the room, and into a long corridor.

"He was pretty persistent about you coming actually." She was saying as they walked, but Tifa wasn't really listening. She was more interested in her surroundings, trying to work out what was behind the doors, and playing a silly little game in her mind about what was, trying to suppress her nerves by thinking of something else.

The woman turned in front of a doorway halfway down the corridor. She rapped lightly on the door.

"Come in" A Voice was heard from the other side of the door. The woman quietly opened the door, before standing aside to let Tifa in.

"Thanks." She breathed, as she walked in, almost amazed at what she saw. Almost. The room was obviously a conference room, with a long table running down the middle, with enough chairs to sit about twenty or thirty people. At the end of the room was a floor to ceiling, wall to wall window. Sunlight poured through the glass, illuminating the room in a golden glow. Silhouetted by the window were two figures. One sitting, with the obvious outline of a cloak over his head. The other was standing, and was very obviously bald. 'Rude' Tifa thought, her eyes softening.

Rufus turned his head when he heard the door close. "Ah, Tifa." He said. "Glad you could make it. Come here." Tifa nodded and made her way down the long room. As she walked, Rude turned to face her, before walking towards her. As he walked past, Tifa could almost feel the emotion radiating off him. All the pain and sorrow he had been through in the past three weeks. She stopped and turned to watch him walk away, sadness in her eyes. As she turned she sighed, before a determined look passed over her face. '_I am going to change that.' _She thought stubbornly. '_I am going to bring him back'_

"Tifa." Rufus said as she reached him. Her passed her a thin A4 wallet. "Here are instructions for what you are to do." Tifa opened the wallet, pulling out a few sheets of paper, she flicked through them, planning to look through them later. "Rude is getting the helicopter ready for you. He'll be taking you as close as possible."

"Okay. When will...?" She trailed off, beginning to read through the first sheet of paper.

"Immediately." Rufus said, knowing what she was about to say. "Amelia will take you to the helicopter. Good luck."

Tifa nodded. Just as she was about to turn and go though, Rufus spoke up again. "By the way, I forgot to mention." He said, a slight smirk appearing on his face. "Twenty years ago, one of our most successful experiments managed to escape. And, well, although this isn't in the brief, but we need you to look out for him and report back to us when and where you saw him. This isn't a necessity, but we just need you to keep an eye out for him."

Tifa nodded. "I understand, what does he-"

"Look like?" Rufus finished for her. "We're not entirely sure what he would look like now but, he has wings. Mainly black, but with blood red feather tips."

Tifa's eyes widened. _'Wings?!_' She thought. Then, after thinking about it for a moment, '_That's actually not that surprising.' _She put on her poker face, completely blank, she would have to keep it like this, at least until she was alone. "And you want me to keep my eye out for him?" She confirmed.

"That is correct. Can you do that for us?" Rufus asked, the slight smile still on his face.

"Alright, but nothing more."

"Rude is waiting for you, I think you better be going." Tifa nodded and started towards the door. "Oh, and Tifa?" She turned once again towards the man. "Don't get yourself killed."

"I won't." She smile and continued her walk out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Rufus sighed, the smile disappearing from his face. "Don't die." He breathed, closing his eyes.

An hour later, Tifa was sitting in the helicopter, nervous as hell. She had refused most of the weapons offered to her, sticking with two hand guns now strapped to her thighs. Her trademark fighting gloves done up tightly around her wrist and hands. She was now rubbing her hands together, subconsciously twiddling her thumbs in anxiety. She was bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

Despite the racket of the Helicopter blades, she felt as if she was in silence. True, Rude was never one to talk much, but the awkwardness of this particular silence made her feel, almost pressured to say something. But her brain was struggling to think of something that wouldn't upset the bald man. The only thing in her mind was Reno. No matter what she did she couldn't get the redhead's face out of her head. She dropped her head, forehead on the palms of her hands. Trying to think of something else, anything else, her mind wondered to the headphones she had to wear. What was the point, Rude wasn't the talking type right now. Or ever now she thought about it. So what was the point of -

Suddenly a voice crackled out of the headphones she was wearing. "We're here." Was all he said. Tifa, not expecting it at all almost jumped out of her skin in shock. '_So he does speak.'_ She thought, a smile creeping onto her face for a second. But only a second, as she peered out over the edge. She could see a forest ahead of her stretching out into the distance.

'_Right'_ She thought, taking a deep breath, composing herself. Or at least trying to. _'This is it.'_ She stood, taking the headphones off and placing them on the floor. Making one last check on her parachute, she glanced at Rude, who was staring straight ahead. She sighed, before taking a running jump, leaping of the edge of the aircraft into the cold winter air. She began falling almost immediately. About halfway down she reached for the tag a pulled, feeling herself slow down considerably as the parachute opened up. Keeping her eyes fixed on the ground, Tifa let herself float gently down.

She landed, the parachute, unfortunately landing somewhere off the edge of the cliff, getting blown in that direction from the slight winter breeze. Quickly, so she didn't get pulled off with it, Tifa unclipped the backpack, slipping it off her shoulders. She stood, observing her surroundings. In front of her was a wood, dark and leafless. Glancing to her right she noticed something a little out of the ordinary. On the edge of the cliff was a patch of grass. Burnt grass. Scattered around were bits of metal and glass. Tifa's eyes widened. '_This must be where...'_ Her thoughts trailed off, her eyes closing tight. She turned away from the scene, staring into the dark forest. She took a deep breath, composing herself yet again.

She stepped forward, one hand hovering over the hand gun. As she walked she kept her awareness sharp and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

Glancing to her left slightly, she noticed a small cottage like house, about a hundred metres away. It looked abandoned, but she had to be sure.

A moment later she was standing outside the house, staring at the door. It looked as if it was about to fall down at any moment. It should be abandoned. A glimpse at the horizon signalled that it was beginning to get dark. She would need a place to stay for the night. Putting a hand on the cold metal door handle, she gently pushed the door open. It creaked slightly, and Tifa winced, silently praying nobody lived here. She took a cautious step inside, then another. She half expected the door to close behind her, like they always did in horror movies, locking the poor victim inside. But it didn't.

The house was laid out like any other. Stairs ahead of her leading up into the darkness. Two doors on either side of the hall. She stepped forward towards one of the doors, taking a peek inside. A kitchen. Neatly cleaned on the owners last visit, but dust covered almost everything. She looked up at the ceiling, a smashed light bulb hung down and another one about a metre away from it, didn't look broken, but probably didn't work. Cobwebs were everywhere, in the corners from the bulbs. Tifa was right to think this place was abandoned.

But then she heard a light switch get turned on, with a loud click, and a bright light lit up the room behind her, illuminating the room she was in slightly. She froze. _'Crap.'_ She thought, her muscles tensed. Then a voice spoke up. A rather... familiar voice.

"Tifa?" The girl in question spun around, eyes wide.

A figure was standing in the doorway of the other room. Tifa stared in shock at the man standing in front of her, trying to find words to say. Her mouth opened and closed, making her look a bit like a goldfish.

Finally, one word managed to escape her lips.

...

"Reno?"

_(Now for the most hated words in the history of story writing)_

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

A/N: I've finally got chapter 7 up. Sorry for making you wait, I'm buried under a pile of coursework and exams. I have my final exams in eight weeks, then two and a half months off. Woo! But it means until then no more writing and a lot more revising. So this'll be the last chapter until July.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Love you all ^^ Keep them coming, It keeps me going

So, until July, bye bye ^^


	8. Finally Get To Meet You Again

****

Hold On

Chapter 8 - Finally meeting you again

By Angel015

**

* * *

**A figure was standing in the doorway of the other room. Tifa stared in shock at the man standing in front of her, trying to find words to say. Her mouth opened and closed, making her look a bit like a goldfish.

Finally, one word managed to escape her lips. "Reno?"

The two stared at each other for a long while, not knowing what to do. Both minds had ceased to work at the sight of the other.

Reno was the first to regain control of his body. He shook his head, blinked a few time before looking back at the spot he was before, to check he wasn't dreaming.

"Tifa? What are you doing here?" He said, eyes wide. He got no answer, only more gaping. It was to be expected. From what he could tell, everyone thought he was dead, so her reaction wasn't really that surprising.

He reached over the narrow hallway and put a finger under her chin, pushing it closed. "Close your mouth, you're letting the flies in." He grinned cheekily.

The sudden contact broke the dark-haired girl out of her trance. She blushed furiously, looking at her shoes while she tried to force the blood back to the rest of her body. Once she felt the heat slowly disappearing, hopefully along with the tomato red face, she looked up, right into a pair of mako blue eyes.

"How...? What...?" She started, swallowing hard. "How are you....?" She couldn't finish, feeling the tears appear in her eyes again. _'Don't cry. Don't Cry!'_ she told herself, staring up at the shocked, yet grinning face above her. He was leaning on the doorframe, and Tifa noticed he seemed to be doing that more to keep himself up than anything else.

Shaking her head, she realised this isn't what she should be doing.

She threw her arms around the redhead's neck, effectively knocking the man off balance and sending them both crashing to the floor, Reno catching himself with one hand, using this to keep them up while he wrapped his other tightly around her back as she silently sobbed into his shoulder, not tears of sorrow, but more like tears of joyfulness. Reno gently lowered himself onto the -rather dusty, but he didn't care- floor, then, using his now free hand, he stroked her back, running his fingers through her hair while whispering soothing words in her ear, trying to calm the girl down.

Eventually the sobs gave way to shuddering breaths, and Tifa pulled back to look down at the Redhead. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat, leaning on his chest.

"I don't know how this is possible, but you know what? I don't care." She stated, pure ecstasy showing on her face.

Reno grinned back, then grimaced as Tifa accidently managed to dig her elbow right onto a, mostly healed, cracked rib. A gasp escaped Tifa's lips, as she shot up into a sitting position, one hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Are you okay?" She asked, then realised what she just asked. She shook her head as Reno gave a small scoff. "Sorry, stupid question." She laughed weakly, still staring, trying to work out if this was real.

"What are you doing here?" Reno asked, sitting up, rubbing his bruised rib gently.

"To find you." Tifa said, grinning as she sat back on the floor, legs loosely wrapped around the redheads body.

"But... the accident....how did you know I was alive."

"We didn't." Tifa said simply. "We assumed you were. The only people who know about this is me and Rufus. And those that found the helicopter." She explained, noticing Reno's face drop into a thoughtful frown. "What is it?" she asked.

"They found it, huh?" He said, to which Tifa nodded. His expression suddenly changed into a happy one as he unlinked his legs, which were also wrapped around her slim form, and stood, holding out a hand to help Tifa up. "Come on, you gotta tell me how everyone is." He said, almost losing his balance, Tifa and the wall stopping him from collapsing again.

"Only once you've told me how _you_ are doing." Tifa stated, wrapping her arm around the injured TURK's waist as he led her into, what she could work out as a living room. They sat down on what had been the redhead's bed for the past few weeks.

"Now, how the hell are you here? There is no way you could have gotten here on your own." Tifa said, still with her arm around his waist as they sat back.

"Well..." He trailed off trying to work out how to begin. Just as he was about to start speaking they heard the front door creak open. Tifa froze up, removing her arm from behind Reno. "Relax." The redhead breathed.

"Reno?" A female voice rang out throughout the house.

"In here." Reno replied, his hand finding Tifa's, gripping it tight, interlinking his fingers with hers, grinning. Tifa saw a dark-haired woman walk through the door, entering the room. She looked quite a bit like the raven-head on the sofa. Same hair and build, but slightly different eye colour. Reno felt Tifa stiffen even more as Emily walked in, and dumped a bag on the table. "What's wrong?" He whispered.

"E....Emily?" She breathed, one hand going to her mouth.

Emily, who had, until now, not noticed her in the room, turned and spotted the woman sitting next to Reno. Her mouth dropped open.

Reno's head shot from one to the other, looking quite like he was watching a game of tennis. "Wha...?" He trailed off.

"Tifa?" Emily asked, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Emily? It can't be..." Tifa stood, letting go of the Reno's hand, both hands over her mouth. "You..." she hopped over the little coffee table to stand in front of the other girl.

Now they stood like that, Reno could see the similarities between them. His eyes flicked from one to the other. "What the...?" he murmured, raising a confused eyebrow.

Then, without warning, making Reno jump slightly, both girls screamed happily, jumping into the other's arms, hugging tightly.

They broke apart a few seconds later, grinning like idiots. "I can't believe this." Tifa breathed, not want to take her eyes off the woman in front of her. "After all these years, and then two in one day." Now both Reno and Emily were confused.

"Two in one....What?" Emily asked.

"Forget that." Reno exclaimed. "What the heck?" Tifa giggled.

"Reno, Emily here, well... she's my sister. She went missing a long time ago, when we were kids." She explained, sitting back down next to the redhead, Emily nodding. "We sent out a search party, had the police involved, everything. We all thought she was dead." Tifa's expression had softened. "Just like you." She turned to Reno, tears once again shining in her eyes.

Reno and Emily stared, shocked at the brunette. Reno then sighed, before pulling Tifa into a hug, leaning back on the pillow on the arm of the sofa, Tifa buried her face in his chest. Emily hopped over the small table, kneeling to gently rub her sisters back soothingly.

"We're both here now." Reno breathed.

"And we're not leaving again." Emily whispered

Tifa nodded, sniffling quietly, into the Redhead chest. Sitting up slightly, she smiled. "Thank you. But moving on from me, you still haven't told me how the heck you are here and how you survived a crash like that." She said, sitting up fully.

"Well, I would have, but then you both went all squealy on me." Reno protested, sitting up and putting his injured leg up on the coffee table. The two girls giggled, glancing at each other. But then Tifa suddenly turned serious.

"Oh, I forgot to give you something." She said. "For not dying, especially after that morning in the snow." She blushed slightly, the memory coming back to her.

"Oh really?" Reno grinned, leaning closer, smirking slightly. Without warning, Tifa reached up and pulled Reno's head down, their lips crashing together. Even Reno, the flirt king, seemed surprised, his eyes flying open, before fluttering shut, losing himself to the kiss.

Emily simply sat there, frozen to the spot. She did not see this coming. At all. Pulling herself together, she decided to leave the two lovers alone, and left the room, picking up the bag of food on the way, smiling gently.

...

* * *

"_What do you want with us?" A high pitched voice spoke up out of the shadows._

_The blonde looked up, glaring menacingly at the spot where the voice had come from. _

"_I want the bastard that killed my friend." He growled. "I'm want to kill him."_

_The voice chuckled, and even in the darkness, it was obvious she was grinning._

"_Oh, you mean _her_..." She paused, as if thinking about something.__"Emily Lockhart."

* * *

_

Oh, Cliffie.......Sorry ^-^'

Hey... I'm finally back *Hides* Please don't kill me for being away so long. Exams almost killed me. But I finished my last one this morning. Sorry this was such a short chapter, it was going to be longer, but i really couldn't be asked to repeat everything I had already written in his explanation. Also I'm sorry for being such a romantic sap, I can't help it ^-^

Come on people, press the little green button at the bottom of the page, it brings light and joy into a writers dark world, I would like it to get up to 40 before the next chapter is posted. Virtual cookies for all those who do ^^


	9. Revalations and Realisations

**Hold on Chapter 9**

**Revelations and Realisations**

**Angel015**

**

* * *

  
**

Sunlight streamed through broken blinds, casting a warm light onto the pair curled up on the sofa. The orange light of the sunrise made the old fashioned room almost eerie. Small holes in the wall were pitch black with shadow, and the angle of the light made it almost impossible to see inside of the fireplace.

The warmth of the light made one of the room's occupants stir slightly, not used to the warmth after spending the night under a thin blanket in a falling down old cottage. But she felt a strange warmth around her back and from somewhere in front of her. The raven haired girl slowly opened her wine eyes, surprisingly, to darkness. Blinking slightly she tried to work out where she was. How come she could feel the warmth of the sun on her back, but could only see darkness? Blinking, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she could see her hand in front of her eyes, griping onto material.

Eyes widening, last night's events came rushing back to her. Not only had she found what she had come for, Reno, she also found her long lost sister. She blushed furiously as she remembered pulling the redhead down into a searing kiss, right in front of Emily, who had promptly left, deciding to spend the night in the dorms for once. They had talked long into the evening, talking about what had happened, Tifa fussed over Reno's broken leg, even after he insisted it was almost healed completely. When he mentioned the party, Tifa remembered blushing slightly. They would have to try again with that when they got home, even if it would be a month or two late. Late into the night, or more early into the morning, they finally curled up on the small sofa and fell asleep.

Squirming slightly, she loosened her hold on the front of Reno's shirt, and tried to loosen his hold to give her more room to move around. Moving up slightly, she stared at the redhead's peaceful face. Reaching forward slightly with one hand, she lightly traced the scars under his eyes with one slender finger, silently wondering how he got them in the first place.

She chuckled quietly when he murmured something inaudible in sleep, eyelids tightening slightly, before once again relaxing. Giggling with happiness, she traced his features lightly with her forefinger.

Only a few moments later, eyelids fluttered opened, revealing mako blue eye, bleary with the remnants of sleep.

He blinked a few times, getting rid of the sleep in his face and mind. Once his eyes had focused a bit more, he smiled sleepily at the woman lying in front of him.

"Hey." Tifa murmured, tapping the redhead on the nose. "Good morning."

"'Morning." Reno muttered back, before yawning widely, burying his face in the pillow to hide it. It must be true that yawns are catching, because only a second later, Tifa mirrored his action.

An hour later, the pair were in the kitchen, attempting to cook breakfast without burning the house down. Which was proving to be more difficult than they has expected. The crumbling chimney above the oven was not helping things and pretty soon, they were trying to put out the fire and not breathe in the smoke pouring out.

Giggling hysterically, the two settled with a bowl of the cereal Emily had brought over, while sitting on the sofa. All the windows in the house were wide open, trying to get the burning smell out of the house and some fresh air in.

They lazed around the house for the day, Tifa exploring upstairs, where Reno was not able to go, nearly falling through the rotting wood and into the kitchen below, and finally dozing on the sofa as the sun began to set.

Which was when Emily walked in, looking slightly ruffled and out of breath. She was holding another bag of food in one hand, and two sets of bedding under each arm. A panicked expression was set on her face as she dropped the blankets on the floor and set the bag on the table. Ignoring the confused and shocked stares she was getting, she began quickly pacing the length of the room, muttering and thinking hard.

"But if I...No she wouldn't.........Didn't she say...?Didn't they all say...?" She murmured, eyebrows furrowed, deep in thought

"Emily?" Reno said, stopping her pacing as she looked up at them, her expression puzzled. "Are...are you okay? What happened?"

Emily sighed, dropping down to sit on the coffee table. "Falsely accused of something I didn't do, and nearly got killed. You know, the usual." She scowled. First she was falsely accused, then she had been attacked by a man she had never net before in her life. Something about being the one who had shot down the helicopter. '_Yeah, right_.' She scoffed weakly. She had tried the simulation for the cannons before. Failed every time. It would have been impossible, and besides, she wasn't even on duty that day, how could she have done anything. And yet the blonde was there accusing her of murder. Her day was not going well.

"What?" Tifa exclaimed, sitting up. "On purpose? Who was it?"

Now Emily thought about it, she hadn't seen the guy before, he could either be new here, or, he could be...

"Do you know a guy, blonde, blue eyes, hair like a Chocobo?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair, whose eyes were bulging out of their sockets.

"Cloud!" They exclaimed at the same time. Tifa fell back against the sofa, hand over her eyes in exasperation and annoyance. "So that's where he's been these past few weeks."

"And I suppose you beat the heck out of him?" Reno almost grinned, but managed to repress it. Sure the two were getting on a lot more than they used to, but the redhead still found the blonde rather annoying at times.

"Ah... No, I left that to Mizaki and Katashi." Emily said, shrugging. "I was with them when it happened, they told me to get out of there." She noticed the horrified expression on Tifa's face. "I told them to disarm him and take him to the prison cells, not to kill him. I need to go down later and find out who in hell told him it was me who killed you."

"That's what this is about?" Reno seemed shocked. Chocobo head did actually like him. Shocking, Reno had always though the blonde hated him, but bore with it for the others sake. The day was full of surprises. "I would have expected Elena, of even Rude. But certainly not Cloud." He said. "Didn't think he liked me very much."

"You'd be surprised." Tifa said quietly. "When everyone thought you had died. He was as upset as the rest of us. More so than some." Reno stared in shock at her. "You have that effect on people." She chuckled, when he raised his eyebrows. "What can I say? You're charming, great sense of humour, and you know when to be serious about things. That and I think you're really cute. Why else would I fall for you?" She grinned, Reno's face softening as he smiled back.

Emily coughed, getting the pair's attention. " Life-threatening situation here. Now what?" She said, reminding them of their current predicament. " Sure we could just tell him you're alive, I was falsely accused and have this whole thing over with, but the problem is, whoever is accusing me, obviously wants me gone, meaning they have some sort of a grudge against me, and-"

"Will try and kill you anyway." Reno finished, his eyes becoming distant with thought.

"Exactly."

"Well, is there anyone who particularly doesn't like you, or maybe wants you gone for some reason? Also, who holds all the power around here? It maybe him." Tifa suggested.

"It's a Her. Fumiko. She's the Ruler here. Wants to take over the world and whatnot. I thought she was starting to like me though. But maybe...maybe not."

"She may not be the one behind this though." Tifa said.

"Fumiko..." Reno murmured. "I've heard that name before. A long time ago. Can't remember exactly where or when, but I know the name. What does she look like?"

"Not many have seen her face, she is always hiding in the shadows. But I hear she is very beautiful. Long raven hair which she ties up in showy hairstyles, a different style every day. Very dark fashion sense. Always wears long extravagant gothic gowns. Very cold scientific mind, a genius. And apparently, she has blood red eyes. But some say they are as black as night. The rumours are always changing." Emily sighed. "Now I think about it, considering we are forced to work for her, not many know that much about her." She frowned, before a yawn erased the frown, a look of tiredness passed over her face.

"I suppose we better get some sleep. We can figure this out in the morning, when it's daylight." Tifa suggested.

"And have coffee." Reno yawned.

"Yes, and coffee." Tifa placed a hand on Reno's knee. They had only noticed just now how dark it had gotten. The sun had already sunken into the horizon, but there was still a dim light from the spot, and, even though they were in the middle of a forest, it hadn't gotten too dark, so as they couldn't see.

Emily rolled out her usual mat on the floor, spare blankets covering her. Reno and Tifa curled up on the sofa in each other's arms, blankets keeping out the cold of the night.

* * *

_Darkness. _

_That was all he could see. It was as if he had his eyes closed. Where was this? What was happening?_

_Suddenly, a bright light lit up the room from a swinging light in the middle of, what looked like, a large storeroom. The young boy looked around him. Bars. He was in a cage. And not a very big one at that. He stretched out a hand to touch the thick bars, whimpering softly. Where was he? _

_Footsteps echoed in the room. The boy spin round, seeing a flight of stairs leading up to a silver metal door. Walking down the stairs was a woman. Raven-black hair, cut into a neat short bob framed he face. She was wearing a pair of tight trousers, and a simple black tank top. A sinister mask covered the top half of her face, only her eyes could be seen. As her heels clicked down the stairs, the boy found himself growing more and more nervous._

_Behind her were two guards, both with large guns in their hands, neither showing their faces._

_The woman stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking around the room. The youngster in the cage drew back, pressing himself against the bars of the cage. He tried to stop himself shaking as he watched three pairs of feet walk closer and closer to his small prison. _

"_Hello." A high, silky, feminine voice rang out, as the woman kneeled in front of him. "You must be the kid everyone's talking about. One of the most successful experiments of all time."_

_Experiment? What was she talking about? _

"_And so young. You must only be about three years old. But that's still a long time to stay alive for." She chuckled. "Most human experiments die before they reach one month. Although, I would be surprised if you last longer than two more years." She grinned spitefully at the whimpering child. "Never mind. That's still enough time to get information on you. And possibly make a better version of what you are. Better than that stupid ShinRa could ever do."_

_ShinRa? He had heard that name before. Or seen it. He couldn't quite remember now._

"_But on the chances you do make it older than five, I think you could make a brilliant fighter in my little plans. If ShinRa," She spat out the name. "Couldn't even keep hold of you, then they don't deserve such a brilliant fighter or spy on their side." Her hand reached in-between the bars, the boy pushed back against the bars as far as he could. Slender fingers with long sharp nails stroked the side of his face, a cruel grin spread on her face. Whimpering softly, the boy closed his eyes tight, only opening them when he felt the sharp nails leave his face. _

_The sight made him shut his eyes tight once more. In the pointed eyeholes of her mask, two eyes glowed red in the shadow of the mask._

"_Fumiko-sama?" a voice came from the door at the top of the stairs. "It's time for your meeting, and it wouldn't pay to be late." _

"_Of course, I'm on my way." She smirked. "As for you. I'll be back later." She hissed through the bars, eyes glowing.

* * *

_

Blue eyes shot open, seeing darkness surrounding him, just like the dream he had. Or more nightmare.

But then his eyes focused to the darkness, shapes forming. He sighed, he was still here, in the living room of the old falling down cottage in the middle of the woods. Tifa was fast asleep on his chest, and he could hear Emily's quiet breathing from the floor.

He had been having that dream for years, not often, but each time it always faded before her name was mentioned. This time however...

Fumiko... She was the one Emily was worried about. The leader of this rebellion. The one who had caused him so much pain as a child. The one he had tried so hard to forget, finally succeeding and now getting thrown back in his face.

He closed his eyes, listening to the birds outside. It must have been pretty late. Perhaps four or five o'clock in the morning. Still far too early to be up and about. Unless of course, it was snowing. Reno grinned at the memory of the snowball fight, only a few weeks ago now.

Hang on. If the crash was on the 1st December, add on the two weeks he was unconscious, the six days he was awake, that made it the 23rd. Or 24th now.

Christmas Eve. Great. Fun, fighting a evil scientist trying to take over the world, get blondie out of the prison cells, and getting the heck out of here. On Christmas. With a still healing leg. This is not going to be easy.

He sighed, shifting slightly. He closed his eyes. For now though. He was going to take what he had. A few more hours of peace with Tifa, and get some sleep.

He relaxed, pushing all thoughts from his head, letting only good memories take over. Finally he allowed sleep to take him once more.

* * *

A/N Sorry about the wait. I've been on holiday for two weeks, and have only just been able to finish this chapter. I was kind of dissapointed as I only got one review I got on the last chapter, but I'm not giving up on this story dispite this. I just read through the entire thing, and I think the witing style has gotten a little better since I started. At least I hope so. Feedback on anything would be nice, I'm trying to improve, especially now I'm starting college.

I also want to thank all my reviewers. Sorry I haven't been able to reply personally to those with accounts, especially as you took the time to actually review. I promise I will try and reply from now on. Also a Special thanks to stars amongst dust, who has been there since the begining. Virtual cookies to all.

Now, there's a little green button there that desperately wants to be pressed. Please help it, it brings light and inspiration into a writers dark life ^^


	10. A Call For Help

**Hold on**

**Chapter 10 - A Call For Help**

**Angel015

* * *

**

"Get off me!"echoed down the dark hallways. Grim as they were, Cloud paid no attention to where he was, or where they were headed. All he cared about was getting out of the tight grasp, and getting back. So he could kill that woman.

"Afraid that's not possible." Said a girl to his right, she had a high pitched, happy-go-lucky style voice, reminding the blonde, unsurprisingly, of Yuffie. Despite her small size, she was surprisingly strong. She had a simple tight trousers and t-shirt outfit, coupled with a few bracelets, necklaces, and other pointless accessories (In Clouds opinion). Knee high boots covered her feet, and strapped to her thighs were two small guns.

On his other side was a man, twice the height of the girl and looked a lot stronger. He had dark hair, impossible to tell the exact colour in the dim light, but his eyes, both of them actually, were clear, almost glowing blue, indicating a possible Mako treatment. The man didn't seem to have any weapons, but that didn't mean he didn't have something hidden away.

"Here." He muttered in a low voice. The girl hopped away, a set of keys in her hand. She unlocked the barred cell door, pushing it open with a loud high squeak. She winced. "Sorry, some of these doors need oiling." She giggled, as she led Cloud into the dimly lit cell. "I'm Mizaki by the way. And this is Katashi." She indicated her partner, who merely nodded. Not a big talker apparently. "And that's your new roommate. Enjoy." She giggled, pointing to a figure in the corner. Katashi silently walked out. As soon as he was out of earshot, her face fell serious. "Don't worry, we'll get both of you out soon." She whispered, backing out.

The door swung shut, leaving the pair to listen to two pairs of retreating footsteps, staring at the closed door. Cloud turned to the other figure in the room, peering into the dark where he was sat.

He walked closer, trying to see his face. "How come you're in here then?" He asked, kneeling down, squinting in the shadows, trying to get a clear view of his face. He jumped back when he finally saw who it was.

"R-Rude?"

* * *

"Tell me again why we have to come with you?" Reno asked. Again. The three of them were sneaking down the shady hallways of the prison, trying to make as little noise as possible. Tifa had her arm around the redhead's waist, ready to catch him should his leg give way, which it did, just as they got here.

"Because if things go wrong and he refuses to believe me, you are going to step in to prove what I'm saying is true." Emily explained, sighing. They had gone over this already.

* * *

"_So all we need to do is find out who told Cloud." Emily said thoughtfully. "And you two need to come with me."_

"_What?" They both exclaimed from their usual spot on the sofa. "And how do you suppose we do that?" Tifa asked. "There are bound to be guards, how do _we _get in?" _

"_Easy, we pretend you are captured prisoners I am taking down to the cells." Emily smiled innocently, although the glint in her eyes was anything but innocent._

_*_

"_You have got to be kidding me?" Reno exclaimed, staring in horror at the pair of handcuffs Emily was holding up. "There has got be another way." Tifa nodded in agreement, taking a step back from the grinning girl. They were hiding behind a large tree just outside the prison doors. _

"_Sorry, I would say you're two new recruits but the guards have instant access to all the files on everyone." Emily said, grabbing Reno's right hand and Tifa's left, cuffing them together. "It's on a stupid computer thing they have in their helmet visors." She grabbed the chain binding them together, dragging them closer. "So stay quiet and do what I say and we'll all get out of this alive." She hissed. The pair cuffed together sighed, rolling their eyes._

_Keeping a tight hold on the chain, Emily began walking into the daylight. Suddenly a tug on the chain made her stop and turn, luckily just before she stepped out. "Wha- oh." Reno, had almost collapsed there and then, Tifa having caught him just in time. His left hand was gripping his almost healed broken leg, pain obvious on his face._

"_I'm still not sure this is such a good idea." Tifa said, keeping a tight grip on Reno's torso, holding him up. At least, as well as she could with hand cuffs on. A Flicker of doubt passed over Emily's face._

"_I'm fine, just aching a bit." Reno said, standing up fully, a little shaky. "It is the first time I've been out completely and it was a fair walk over here. I'll be fine." _

_Emily debated with herself for a moment, then suddenly, it was too late._

"_Is everything okay over here, miss?" came a deep voice from behind her. Emily whirled round, straightening, poker face in place. One of the guards stood behind her, face hidden by the visor. _

"_Ah...yes, everything is fine. Just fine." She said, as confidently as she could. "I just found these two sneaking around, and have come to put them in the holding cells until we can figure out who they are and why they're here." She lied._

"_Alright then. I'll take them off your hands." The guard said, moving to take the chain._

"_No!" Emily near yelled, and Tifa and Reno exchanged worried glances. The Guard draw back his hand. "I'll take them down. There's another prisoner I need to check up on so I might as well go down myself." She said, truthfully for once._

"_Alright then." The guard took a step back, letting the trio pass him and into the cells.

* * *

_

The halls were gloomy to say the least, dark coloured walls, covered in damp and moss. On either side barred doors lined the corridor, each with a depressed, angry or, well, dead, prisoner behind it. Three pairs of footsteps echoed down the passage, slapping wetly on the damp floor.

"It should be...Just down here." Emily muttered, staring down a flight of murky stairs, leading into pitch-black darkness. Even the light from the various torches on the wall didn't reach the bottom of what looked like endless stairs.

"Oh, dear." Tifa muttered, blinking hard, trying to see something, _anything, _at the bottom. She took a small step backwards, keeping a tight grip on Reno, who, surprisingly, didn't seem that fazed.

"Well, that is where we have to go, and I suppose we'll have to sooner or later." Emily grimaced, reaching over the pluck one of the fiery torches from its hook ("Medieval much?" - Reno). She took a deep breath, and warily stepped down onto the first step. "If I die from slipping down these stupid stairs, I swear I will come back to haunt blondie." She murmured, feeling how slimy the steps were. From somewhere behind her, Reno sniggered.

The handcuffed pair were trying to take it easy down the stairway, Reno keeping a grip on Tifa's shoulder and the wall.

Once they got to the bottom, the three realised why no light had been coming from the end. At the foot of the stairs was a large, solid metal door, blocking any light from the other side.

Emily fumbled with the set of keys she had been given, trying to find the right one. She finally got it, after trying at least ten different keys, while Tifa and Reno waited patiently behind. Once the door finally creaked open, artificial light poured through the growing gap in the door.

Emily quickly put out the fire in her torch, she had no need for it, and placed the extinguished torch on the floor by the wall. Electric lights hung from the ceiling, and despite this, the underground area seemed slightly more cheerful than upstairs. Note: slightly. The walls were plastered and painted plain white. The cells seemed to be similar to upstairs, but these had bunks and what seemed like a toilet, if, you could call a hole in the floor a toilet.

"Well, it's seems your friend got the nicer cells." Emily muttered.

"These are the nicer ones?" Tifa hissed. Reno stayed silent, for once, thinking how scarily familiar this place was. A strange sense of Déjà Vu washed over him, as he looked around at the small rooms.

"This used to be the place where all the experiments would be held when they were not being used. Apparently. At first they go to the large storehouse, then here." Emily explained. "I was only five when they changed it, I wouldn't know exactly, but I do know the rooms were a lot smaller and most used to be filled with cages and boxes, each with various experiments Fumiko had cooked up." She scoffed. "Only a handful succeeded, surviving. One of the most successful though wasn't even hers, and managed, somehow, to get away. Nobody knows what happened to him. Lucky."

Reno inwardly flinched, trying not to show any emotion. He knew who that was, and he was fairly sure Emily did too. He looked pointedly away when the girl in question glanced at him.

"Right, hang on here a moment." Emily said, dropping the chain, and starting towards the corner. A cough from both made her turn.

"As much as I love the girl, I do not want to be handcuffed to her forever." Reno hissed, holding his hand up, dragging Tifa's up with it.

"He has a point." Tifa agreed.

"Right." Emily said, moving to un-cuff them.

Once she rounded the corner, and appeared in front of the cell Cloud was in, a string of hissed abuse started up from said Blonde. Ignoring that and the muffled sniggers from round the corner, Emily leant against the wall examining her nails until he finally ran out of things to say, a good five minutes later.

"Right, now you've finished with the insults, I have something to say, _Blondie._" Emily said, as neutral as possible with a certain hero glaring daggers at her. "I had planned an entire speech about this, but I have people waiting, so I'm going to come right out and - who's that?" She pointed at the bald man sitting on the bunk. "Hold on one mo'." With that she shot back round the corner.

"What's going on?" Reno asked when she nearly ran into him.

"Bald guy, TURK Uniform. What the heck is -"

"Rude." Tifa gasped, and Reno groaned, dropping his head into his free hand. "He must have been caught after he dropped me off two days ago." Was that all, it felt like forever she had jumped out of that helicopter, last seen the Bald TURK.

"Right. This is getting interesting." Emily scowled, before turning on her heel and marching back, forcing a smile.

"Okay, so as I was saying. I don't know who told you, but I did NOT shoot down your friend back then. I wasn't on duty that day. Heck I wasn't even working. Most people weren't." She said, hands on hips.

"So where were you?" Cloud asked, still disbelieving.

"Being dragged kicking and screaming back to my own Birthday party." She said with a grimace.

"And how do we know you're not-" Cloud was cut off by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see his silent roommate.

"She's telling the truth." He said in a low voice.

"How do you know?" This was met with a shrug.

"Hunch." Was all he said, before returning to his position on the bunk.

"Okay, supposing we believe you, can you prove it?" Cloud asked. Emily simply smirked, indicating with her finger for the pair to come out of hiding.

"Time to come out." She said. When she got no answer, no one stepping out, her inner alarm bells starting ringing. "Crap." She murmured, running to where they were hiding. She repeated the word, slightly louder when she saw what had kept them.

Two guards stood behind Reno and Tifa, hands held behind their back, the former looking like he was in pain, and a lot of it. He was slightly bent over, breathing hard, his broken leg lifted off the floor ever so slightly so he didn't accidentally lean on it. Tifa was struggling, trying to break the strong hold.

"I do believe they are my prisoners, thank you very much." Emily said confidently, though she was shaking somewhat. She had fought with one of these guards before. Spent the rest of the week (It was Monday) unconscious in the hospital.

"Prisoners you failed to look after." The guard holding Reno monotoned in a gruff voice. "We will be taking them from here."

Reno lifted his head, catching Emily's attention. He had a particularly determined look in his eye, and a smirk on his face. He glanced at Tifa, who stopped struggling at his smirk. He obviously has a plan, Emily thought with growing anxiety. He didn't know just how strong these guards were. Would it work?

Tifa calmed, knowing whatever the redhead had planned, it was better than nothing.

All was silent for a moment, save the 'What the hell is going on?'From Cloud, but everyone ignored him.

Then, with no warning, there was a sound of material ripping, a flash of red and black, and the guard holding Reno was thrown backwards, getting knocked out on the wall not too far behind. The large scarlet wings came back round and knocked the other on the head, causing him to let go of Tifa, who quickly moved to kick him round the head, effectively knocking him out.

She turned on Reno, who was leaning against the wall, shock and awe clear on her face. The redhead grinned sheepishly.

"What the heck?" She near yelled, both Emily and Reno jumping forward to cover her mouth. She peeled both hands off her face, her mouth still hanging open in amazement. "You... you're..." She trailed off.

"Tifa?" Came the question from round the corner. It seems Cloud recognised her voice.

"Shut up for a moment." She yelled back. "I cannot believe this. You... you are... How come you've never mentioned this? Have you told anyone?" The redhead shook his head.

"Well, he is wanted by two huge companies, both for experimental reasons, both who have unlimited resources, Yes I think he would be wanting to tell the whole world." Emily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Reno scratched the back of his head, moving to fold the feathery wings back in. Tifa stopped him, hand reaching out to touch the soft feathers. Her hand quickly retracted, when a shout came from round the corner.

"Who's there?"

Emily stuck her head round the corner, breathing a sigh of relief at who she saw. It was one of the normal guards, one she had easy control over. She stepped out into the corridor, a scowl on her face. "Back to your post soldier." She ordered.

"But I heard-"

"You heard nothing." She glared. "Just a few rouge prisoners, now back, before I kick your ass back." She finished menacingly. The guard gulped, turning on his heel and fleeing. Emily smiled innocently. "Thank you." She sing-songed.

"We need to get out before the stronger guards find us." She said, quickly walking back. "We can get those two later, when we have more people. Come on." Emily wrapped her arm round Reno's waist, joining Tifa's and helped him along. "I don't think they know anything yet, so they can't let slip. Hopefully."

The trio headed back upstairs. They had a bit of trouble at the gates with the guards that let them in, but Emily's sweet talk got them out of that. Unfortunately, more guards were alerted, and they soon found themselves surrounding, some of which were the stronger ones.

"Bugger." Tifa muttered. Reno, on the other hand, knew exactly how to get out.

"Emily, I need you to get on my back." He hissed, slowly moving to grip Tifa's waist.

"But-"

"I'll be fine, do it." Emily did as commanded, little by little moving to position herself behind him. Putting both hands on his shoulders, she readied herself.

"Now!" Reno ordered, scooping Tifa up, bridal style. Emily quickly hopped on his back, wrapping her legs round his lower torso, arms round his neck. There was another flurry of feathers, and suddenly the wind was whipping through her hair, her eyes snapped shut at the feeling of flying. There was a squeak from Tifa, and a low chuckle from Reno, barely heard over the rushing of wind. She peeled her eyes open, and the sight of trees rushing past, blurred, made her mouth drop open in awe. They were keeping low, the redhead expertly weaving in and out of the trees.

Within seconds they were back at the cottage, Reno landing, awkwardly with his leg, almost dropping Tifa. Emily quickly hopped off, allowing him space to drop to the ground, panting.

"It's been a while since I've done that." He managed to get out, chuckling.

Emily was trying to smooth out her hair, failing miserably, tying it in a knot instead. Tifa was bubbling.

"I want to do that again." She said happily.

"At least you had fun." Emily muttered. "Which reminds me, how come you didn't just jump out when the helicopter got hit?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Reno faltered slightly. "Well, for starters, the doors don't open when the aircraft is in the air, and the manual switch is in a stupidly awkward place. And secondly, at the rate that thing was dropping, by the time I was able to get out and open the wings, I would have died anyway. Providing it doesn't blow up, staying in is safer, jump out and you may find yourself landing on top of it, most likely impaled on something." He rubbed his side, as if remembering a certain injury. "Which I know from experience." Definitely an injury.

The other two gulped, staring.

"Right, shall we move inside?" Emily said cheerfully changing the subject. "You need a new shirt." The old one was ripped to shreds. "And we all have a few calls to make."

A few moments later, they were all settled on the sofa, the two girls punching in numbers on phones.

"Hello Yuffie?"

"Hey Mizaki?"

"I need your help."

* * *

A/N: Ohhhh, a quick update. For me anyway. I am determined to get this done now. I need to finish it! Must! It'll be the first story I've actually completed. Besides I'm starting college in a few weeks. Don't think I can finish it by then, but a fair bit of it done would be nice.

Well, this chapter was longer than usual, Once I started writing I couldn't stop. It's 1 in the morning and I really wanted to finish this before I sleep (Not tired at all) so sorry if the endings a bit rushed, and there are probably loads of silly mistakes. Once again thank you to the people who reviewed, More cookies for all ^^ Please review and feedback, criticism is encouraged, I'll be doing A Level English soon, so any improvements would help, a lot. Thank you ^^

EDIT:- I have just gone back and made a few changes to the first chapter, it makes slightly more sense now (in my opinion) I may do some of the other chapters, but maybe not, it depends. Do leave a review, if you think they could do with a little work, please tell me. Considering I started this story well over a year ago now ^^


	11. Help Arrives

Hold on

Chapter 11 - Help arrives

Angel015

* * *

_White walls, cages, lab coats. Everything around the small boy made him scared, petrified even, as to what could happen, what he knew was going to happen._

_He was sitting in a small cage, thick bars surrounding him. He was on the floor, and could only see feet walking past every now and again. He was too scared to move and try and look up, afraid of what he would see. Glancing around he caught sight of another 'experiment' in the cage next to him. Only a small child, couldn't be more than a few months old, was curled up. His, or was it a her, he couldn't tell, skin was a dark blue colour, and what looked like the gills of a fish were on... it's... chest. The boy shook his head. He was turning into one of them. ...On _his_ chest. Yes, it could be a boy for now, he'd try and find out later. _

_For some reason, he had taken a small liking to this little child. For the first time in... who knows, he smiled softy, watching the small chest rising and falling gently._

"_Hello." A Silky voice drew him from his thoughts. Snapping his head to the voice, his blue-green eyes widening, he stared into a pair of glowing red eyes behind a sinister mask._

***

A sharp gasp echoed in the dark room, as blue eyes once again shot open after another nightmare of his past. Of all his seven years imprisonment as a child, that was the one day he never wanted to remember again. He didn't really want to remember any of it, but, that day, that one day. He shuddered. The small child, as he found out later, was born with fish genes in his makeup. Which explains the gills. But of course, out of the water he could not survive long. As the five year old Reno sat and watched the child sleep, his breathing could be seen slowing and becoming shallower, until, and hour later it stopped altogether. He had died, right in front of him.

Reno remembered the horror he had felt at that moment, then the sadness.

He tried to push the thought, the memory from his mind, staring down at Tifa's peaceful face. He was the lucky one. The one who had gotten away, and had survived, the longest surviving experiment.

Stop. Thinking. About. That.

Forcing his mind away from anything to do with experiments, evil scientists, and red eyes, he thought about what had happened earlier that day. Or yesterday now.

Both Emily and Tifa had called whoever they could think of to help them yesterday evening. Although he was looking forward to seeing most of them again, it meant the hyperactive princess was coming. It's not he didn't like her. She just had a tendency to jump him whenever she saw him. And with a broken leg and a healing rib, being jumped on was not going to help in the slightest. Although what they had done earlier didn't exactly help. His leg seemed to be aching more than usual. Ah well, he was used to it.

He sighed, propping himself up on his elbow, staring down at a certain brunettes peaceful face.

Hang on.

Tifa had called Elena for help. He remembered that even though he was in a drowsy on painkillers, not-really-paying-attention state at the time. And that meant... Tseng was coming. Great. This is going to be awkward. Well everything is going to be awkward, but Dot-face? Crap.

A groan-like yawn broke free from the redhead, and he considered going back to sleep. But the room slowly becoming lighter and the thought of another nightmare put him off the idea. The thought of coffee was becoming more and more enticing, but then there was the trouble of attempting to get to the kitchen without waking the girls.

So instead he quietly watched Tifa sleep peacefully, playing with a piece of her long hair, a content smile playing on his face.

The sun slowly rose, filling the room with a soft light though the front window, the house was peaceful, for once.

"TIFA?" a high pitched voice rang out, the front door creaking open. The two sleeping girls were shaken awake by the voice.

"Yuffie." Tifa growled, not quite awake.

"Where is everyone?" Another voice asked, and a small ruckus involving someone tripping over something -sounding a lot like pots and pans- in the kitchen.

"Great, as if the house wasn't falling down enough as it is." Emily muttered from the floor, before attempting to push herself up, failing, still tired, dropping back to the makeshift bed ungracefully.

Reno groaned, picking up a pillow and pulled it over his ears. "It's too early for this." Tifa nodded, snuggling up to her boyfriend, wrapping both arms around him, playing with his long hair, which was, for once, taken down from the usual ponytail.

"Yuffie, be quiet, they may still be sleeping." Elena's voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"At least she has some sense." Emily muttered from her spot where she had dropped. The door to the living room creaked open, and, not caring who it was, Emily reached for a pillow, chucking it, over the top of the cuddling couple, at who ever had walked in.

"Ow."

Reno and Tifa let go of each other, moving to look over the back of the sofa at who had been hit.

Yuffie.

Tifa giggled. "Good shot." She said back at Emily, who had curled round another pillow with her eyes closed tight.

Yuffie caught the pillow, glancing up at the occupants of the room, glaring.

"Right, whoever did that is going to -" she cut herself off, seeing just who was raising an eyebrow at her over the back of the sofa. Her brown eyes widened, her voice, for the first time, seemed to be failing her, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. "No...way..."

The redhead grinned at the gaping princess. "Kinda reminds me of your reaction. Miss Goldfish." He murmured to Tifa. She turned to him, a mock glare on her face.

"I'm sorry, what did you just call me?" She growled, under her breath. She tackled him so his back was against the armrest, leaning over the edge. She pinned him down, leaning close so they were nose to nose. Reno grinned. "You will pay."

Yuffie was still shocked immobile, mouth hanging open. A clawed hand on her shoulder drew her from her stupor. She looked up, seeing a lot of red and black and then - "Vincent." She breathed, eyes still wide. He simply nodded, eyes on the scene in front of them. There was a fair bit of commotion behind them. Elena had gotten her foot stuck in a hole in the stairs, and, looking quite cute and helpless, the boys, i.e. Cid and Barret, had gone to help, with Tseng in the background rolling his eyes.

"H-hey! What part of broken rib do you not understand?" Came a voice from the next room, making both Elena and Tseng stiffen, staring at each other in shock. Everyone was silent, still as a statue.

"It can't be..." Elena breathed. She yanked her foot free, much to the annoyance of everyone else, who had tried and failed to help, and shot like a rocket over to where Yuffie was standing. "No way..." her hands covered her open mouth, hazel eyes wide at the scene in front of them. "Reno...?" This came out slightly louder than she had intended.

The pair on the sofa were, by now, struggling for the hair band Reno had taken from the brunette as she attempted to put her hair up, hanging over the armrest, Tifa reaching out for the tie, trying not to hurt the redhead again, one arm on the armrest, the other stretching for Reno's hand above his head. At the voice, both froze. Reno grinned sheepishly, turning his head slightly to see everyone standing in the doorway.

"This is going to either be really, really awkward, or really painful." He murmured to Tifa, low enough so no one else could hear. Tifa chuckled quietly, causing him to glare half-heartedly at the sniggering girl.

Elena felt like she was going to burst. Too many emotions were running through her at the sight of the grinning redhead. The initial feeling was, of course, happiness. She felt like the heavy burden had been lifted, letting her breath for the first time in weeks. Obviously, there was disbelief. After all, she had been the only one with him when the helicopter had crashed - even if it was only over the phone-, she had thought for sure he had died. Tears began to prick at her eyes, blurring her vision slightly.

A sudden hand on her shoulder made her jump, visibly. She looked up to see Tseng, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I had thought so..." He muttered, as he watched the cocky redhead gently push Tifa off him, hand her hair tie back, sitting up.

"You knew?" The small blonde asked.

"Not really. But I had my suspicions, Rufus wasn't doing the best job of hiding it. From me anyway." Tseng explained in a low voice. Elena tried to swallow the lump in her throat, turning back to Reno, who had limped round the sofa, leaning against it, raising his eyebrows at the group.

The room had gone silent, other than the shuffling from the floor.

"Well, this is awkward." Came the mumble from behind. All looked to see Emily, who had finally dragged herself from the safety of the covers. She pulled on a pair of boots, still in her clothes from the day before -they were all too tired to bother with changing- her knee length black and white patchwork skirt and a dark plum turtleneck. She looked rather irritated, eyebrows furrowed and a scowl that could put Sephiroth to shame. She dragged her feet to the crowd by the door. "Move." She ordered. Everyone swiftly jumped out the way to let the grouchy girl through.

"Okay...Emily...not a morning person." Reno muttered, looking quite scared himself. She had always been up before him, -painkillers caused him to sleep in late- and had always had coffee beforehand, so he had never really seen her when she initially wakes up, before the caffeine .

"I think that's a little bit of a under exaggeration." Tifa said, leaning on the hard back of the sofa.

"Reno..." Elena was finding everything a bit much, tears were silently streaming down her pale face. She tried holding in a sob, but some escaped her, in a weird sounding hiccup. Reno sighed, pushing himself up slightly. He held out a hand to the silently crying girl.

"The one and only...Come on." He said quietly, smiling. Elena let out a proper sob, running forward into the redhead's arms, which wrapped around the slim form, one hand stroking her hair gently. A Grimace passed over his face at first, he did still have a few broken bones left, but a soft smile soon graced his features.

Tseng raised his eyebrows at the out-of-character Reno. It was strange, like someone had replaced him, but something inside his mind told him the redhead would be back to his usual cocky self once this blew over. Rufus had been rather careless in hiding the information about Reno and what had happened. Knowing him, he had probably left it on the desk on purpose. Elena's reaction meant she probably hadn't found anything herself, although she may have, choosing not to think anything of it, as Tseng had done at first.

It was only once Elena had taken a step back, wiping her eyes, that Yuffie regained her senses, finally closing her mouth. A Grin broke out on her face, brown eyes sparkling. She launched herself at the two TURK's, locking them both in a tight hug.

"Ow." Reno muttered, as the human rocket hit them both, smiling all the same. He felt another pair of arms wrap around him from behind, and he could feel Tifa nuzzling the back of his neck. He managed to catch Tseng's eye in amongst everything, and mouthed 'HELP' at him. He had three girls attached to him, and his reputation was going down in flames. The black-haired man simply grinned at him, not moving to assist the crushed man.

Finally Emily came to save the day.

"Hello." She sing-songed, pushing through the small crowd. Everyone moved away, cowering in fear of the small, yet deadly, girl. Yuffie and Elena moved quickly, rocketing around the sofa to peek over the top. Only Tifa stayed where she was, kneeling on the couch, her chin atop the mess of red hair.

Emily sighed, a two cups of steaming coffee in her hands. "Relax, I've already had two cups of coffee, I won't bite anymore."She said, handing one of the cups to a smirking Reno, and the other to Tifa.

***

A good hour later, after everyone had gotten over the shock, they were all sitting round the small coffee table, with the addition of Mizaki and Katashi, as Emily tried to explain just what the heck was going on.

"Okay, then, so we have to go and get Cloud and Rude out of the Prison right?" Cid confirmed.

"Basically, yeah...Which is why we called you. We can't do it on our own, because of his leg, it's only me and Tifa, which could work, until we hit the guards." Emily explained. "So we need more people to go down, a few to help keep the guards at bay, another to get the pair out of the cells." She paused, thinking. "There is also the problem of Fumiko..."

Reno counted himself lucky that everyone was looking at Emily, 'cause he was sure his face just darkened a few notches, though the dark aura could be a problem.

"And of course her 'loyal' followers." Tifa put in. "Didn't you mention one in particular?" She asked Emily.

"Yeah, Seyroth. He's her favourite. Really quite powerful too. Good fighter." She dropped her forehead onto her coffee mug. "He's going to be a problem."

"So what we're also doing is overthrowing Fumiko?" Elena spoke up. "You said she wants to take over the world, so that might be a good idea."

"We need a plan." Emily muttered, lifting her head. "Only a basic one, just so we all know what we're doing. And whatever that plan is, I think I know the one person who would want to be the one to go after Fumiko." She raised an eyebrow at a certain redhead, who raised both his in return, before furrowing into a frown.

He pushed himself up. "I think I need some air." He muttered, stepping over Tifa and Elena and moving for the door, shoving his hands in his pockets. Tifa moved to go after him, but a hand on her knee stopped her. She looked back to see Elena, who was looking at Emily with confusion clear in her expression. She ignored the hand, pushing up and following the redhead out the room.

Nobody seemed to move, save Emily who was nursing her cup of coffee.

"I'm Assuming you know why Reno has some sort of grudge against her." Tseng said finally, breaking the silence.

"I don't know much, but I do know he had a little run in with her as a child. But I just thought we would need to work that fact into our little plan." She smiled, taking a sip of coffee.

***

Tifa found the redhead in the small, covered backyard, sitting slouched on the bench, head dropped back with his eyes closed. He looked...peaceful. And for the loud-mouthed TURK, that was a rare sight.

"Hey, you okay?" She asked softly, sitting down next to him. He mumbled a reply, sounding like 'yeah' but she couldn't exactly be sure. She sighed, taking his hand, twining her fingers with his. "If you want to talk, I'm here." She said quietly, leaning back and resting her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes close.

The cold winters wind blew against their back, through the gaps in the wood. Tifa shivered, tightening her hold on Reno's hand. She could feel him shifting slightly, then a warmth spread through her. She opened her eyes and saw he had opened his wings, wrapping one around her, protecting against the biting wind.

"Thanks Tifa." He muttered. He opened one eyes when he felt her shift in the hold. He had to hold in a laugh when he saw her face. Looking like a little cat, curious and interested, she was stroking the soft feathers, a smile beginning to play on her face.

"How do you hide them so well?" She asked quietly.

"They fold in pretty tightly, and it's one of the reasons I usually leave my jacket undone, other than the whole 'I-don't-do-smart' thing." He chuckled, remembering all the times Tseng had tried, and failed, to get him to wear the uniform correctly.

"Ah." She paused, thinking hard about how to phrase the next sentence. "You don't have to answer, but what do you remember? About this place? And..." She trailed off.

Reno sighed, closing his eyes. "Not much, I tried to force it out of my head for so long, there's little I do remember." He looked down at her. "Though when we were in the prison cells, The part Emily was explaining, about how the experiments were kept, I did keep seeing it how it used to be. The rooms were filled with cages, guards at every door. Making it impossible to get out, even if you tried. The guards, at least the stronger ones, are her most successful experiment. They're human, but mechanical. A mix of the two. Meaning they are very strong, and can still learn new things."

"So if they can think for themselves, why do they still work for her?"

"Loyalty, she created them, they work for their creator."

"One last thing, how did you get out?" It was the one thing she couldn't quite get her head around, if there were so many guards, and they were so strong, how did a seven year old boy slip from their grasp.

"They had no use for me, so when they went to...kill me, they did the stupid thing, by doing it by letting me fight the guards. Outside." He chuckled. "That was the one good thing I can remember, their faces as I flew off."

Tifa smiled, leaning her head against his chest. "I'm glad you did." She muttered, smiling. Though she tried to fight it, another shiver shook her body. Even the thick barrier of feathers wasn't keeping out the cold winter air.

"Come on. It's getting a bit too cold out here." Reno said, folding his wings in and sitting up. As Tifa moved away a little a loud crack was heard. She looked at him in confusion.

The next thing they knew, they were on the floor, the bench having given way under their weight. Reno was the first to laugh, followed by the brunette.

Laughing, they made their way into the slightly warmer house, trying to clear the giggles before going into the living room, where everyone was gathered.

When they finally staggered in, Emily looked up, a grin on her face.

"I see you're finally back. We have a plan."

* * *

A/N: Here you go, chapter 11. Wow, I'm starting to get these out fast now. Three chapters in two weeks, I think. Maybe not the best idea but I really just want to get this out now. There is still a few more chapters to go. Again thanks to the people who reviewed, it would have been nice to get a few more, but never mind. If you do get this far, even if you don't have an account, please leave a review, even if it's only to say how good/bad/utter crap this chapter is. Thank you ^^ I am tempted to just abandon this story after the next chapter if I can't get to at least 45 reviews, College is starting next week, and I've got a lot to do, especially as I have to retake a AS English exam, so any contructive critisism would be much appreciated.

I'm sure I mentioned this before but I have changed chap.1 a little, it makes slightly more sense than before, as the storyline did take a sudden turn. If you think any more chapters need changing and/or improving please leave a note/review to say so. ^^


	12. The Plan in Action

**'Wow! An update Angel? Really?' It's been way too long since I last updated this...for me anyway. I just lost all inspiration to write. But it's back now, so I sat down this evening and wrote. It's probably rubbish, as it's quite rushed, but I had to get it out, if I left it any longer it would never get finished. so anyway, here's chapter 12 ^-^**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Mizaki, Katashi and Emily.

* * *

**

_Okay, first things first, rest up, eat, drink, whatever. We're leaving late tonight._

"Right, this could be interesting." A Certain redhead said from his spot on the sofa, from which he was refusing to move, due to the fact that was where he had been for the past few weeks, and apparently 'he was the injured one, and therefore he should get the couch.' To which Elena and Yuffie protested. By sitting on him.

Emily sighed into her coffee, hearing the ruckus from the front room. She leant on the kitchen counter, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "What part of 'rest' do they not understand?" She asked herself.

"I believe it's the 'rest' part." Came a voice from the doorway. Emily turned her head to see Reno, leaning against the doorway, a smirk on his face. "I was kicked off the sofa, thought I would get away from the chaos for a bit." He said, glancing back at the noise.

"'Get away from the chaos'?" Came a new voice, as Tifa stepped up next to him. "You're usually the one who starts the chaos, and are usually right in the centre of it." She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "Scrap that, you are _always_ in the middle of it." She walked over to Emily. "Any coffee left, or have you drained it all?" She asked, picking up the now nearly empty pot.

"There's a new packet in the top cupboard."

Reno sighed, grinning. "I filled that pot up last night."

"Well, a lot of people wanted coffee."

"Conversely one person wanted a lot of coffee." Tifa said dryly from the other side of the open cupboard door.

Emily shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "What can I say? I have trouble staying awake and in a good mood." The other two rolled their eyes.

There was a smash from the other room. Emily grimaced, glancing back at the room.

"I think somebody better go calm them down." Reno said, staring at a crack in the ceiling that he could have sworn wasn't there earlier. "They're gonna pull the house down at the rate they're going. You'll be the best choice for that." He pointed at the youngest, Emily. "They're scared enough of you already."

"Alright." And with that she marched out of the room, into the living room and suddenly the house was quiet, save the yelling that followed a moment later.

Reno felt the smirk growing on his face, and he could see Tifa's slowly getting bigger.

"This house is falling down enough as it is! Can you people please calm down? You need to save your energy, but if you really want to run around like children now, I can just let those super-strong modified guards rip you apart later tonight."

Reno's chuckling was cut short, as he remembered just how strong those guards were.

"Now shut the hell up, thanks to you I -we- lost out on sleep last night, or this morning, and unless you want to see my morning self again, I suggest you stay quiet so I can get some more sleep this evening."

Stunned silence filled the house, apart from the chuckling coming from the kitchen.

Finally the house was quiet, for the first time since five o'clock that morning.

* * *

_Next thing, we need to get into the Main Headquarters. Easier said than done, I'm not sure if my clearance will still work._

Under the cover of night, five figures snuck through the winding paths through the woods. The only sound was the soft crunching of leaves under their feet and the whistling of the biting winter wind through the icy leafless trees.

Emily, Tifa, Reno, Elena and Tseng were headed for the main camp, hoping to get inside and, if all goes as planned, find Fumiko, and take her down, along with all those loyal to her. That is, _if_ all things go to plan. Fumiko was strong, they knew that, a powerful and talented fighter according to Emily. And getting to her may be harder than fighting her. She was guarded by her most successful experiment, the mechanical guards were on watch twenty-four hours a day, and stationed at every door and along most hallways.

Fortunately, they had a back-up, and hopefully they would be able to get past the guards without too much trouble. Mizaki had produced some old blueprints of underground tunnels that ran all over the camp. They were built well over one hundred years ago, but, with a bit of luck, they should be still there. Fumiko shouldn't know about these tunnels, and if she does, thinks very little of them, as no guards, not even the average guards, are stationed down there.

Using her trained eyesight, and a small lantern, Emily manoeuvred her way through the trees along the path, looking for the run down building at the edge of the pathway that concealed the steps down to the tunnels. They finally found it, and opened the door as quietly as possible. The inside of the small building seemed, if possible, even smaller, only four or five feet in width and length, with plain walls and nothing inside but another door, and unexpectedly, guards. Mechanical guards.

Elena and Tseng drew their guns quietly.

"Aim for their necks, it's where they're weakest." Emily whispered, so low, it was almost hard to hear her.

Two shots rang out in the cold night air.

"Let's go, somebody probably heard that." Tifa whispered, flicking on a torch from her small bag hanging on her shoulder. The pulled out two more and handed them to Reno and Emily, leaving Elena and Tseng to walk behind. Tifa dropped the cloth bag in the corner, she had no need for it anymore.

"I wasn't expecting it to be guarded." Emily muttered, poking at the motionless figures on the floor. The one she was prodding twitched violently, and Emily jumped back, startled at the sudden movement. "Let's go." She squeaked, moving for the door. Flinging it open, she very nearly stepped forward onto nothing if it wasn't for a silent hand on her shoulder. Tseng stepped up next to her, looking down into the darkness.

"Great." Tifa murmured, sarcasm dripping off her tongue. "More stairs leading down to dark places." Which elicited a giggle from Elena and a small chuckle from Reno.

There was a crack of a twig from somewhere outside. They all froze, hardly daring to breathe.

"Come on." Emily whispered, warily stepping down onto the first step. She shone the bright light of the torch into the gloom. As carefully, but as quickly as she could, she stepped down again and again, the stairs seeming to go on forever. She heard to door quietly click close behind her. Only a few seconds later voices were heard from somewhere above and behind the shut door.

The stairs finally gave way to a long dark hallway, lit only by the torches in their hands. There didn't seem to be anybody down here, the guards upstairs were the only ones, but that didn't mean nobody was down here.

Elena tightened her grip on her gun, almost shaking with nerves. Anything could be down here, if what Mizaki had said was true, nobody had been down here in years, and the dark doors every few metres on either side were starting to creep her out a lot. The empty doorways are what scared her the most, in the darkness nothing could be seen inside, it was hard enough seeing two feet in front of her. But she could have sworn at one point she saw the faint light from the torch ahead of her glinting off a pair of eyes inside the room. She kept her eyes forward from that point on.

After not too long, Emily stopped, two paths ahead of her, shining the light onto the faded map held out in front of her.

"Please, don't stop." Elena whimpered, backing up closer, gun held tight at eye level, eyes scanning the darkness of the corridor behind them. She could swear she could see flashes of light in the hallway behind them, like the reflection of the torch on glassy eyes.

"Left." Emily said, folding the map in half, turning to walk down the path to the left. "And then up."

"Best news I've heard all evening." Reno muttered, following her down the slimming path. Tifa chuckled, dropping back to take his hand, gripping tight, trying as hard as she could not to show the fear inside her.

It wasn't long before they reached what looked like a dead end. Shining her torch at the wall, Emily saw the bars of a ladder leading up into a hole in the ceiling.

"Finally." Elena whined, sighing in relief, still staring behind the group into the darkness, where small flashes were still appearing.

Emily handed her torch to Tifa, before taking hold of one of the bars attached to the wall. She gave it a quick test, leaning on it hard to make sure it'll hold her weight. Quickly but carefully, she began to climb, Tifa following, then Reno, Elena and finally Tseng.

The ladder went on for some time, it was a long way to the surface. Emily didn't notice the end get closer and managed to hit her head on the metal plate.

"Ow."

"I think we've found the top." Reno said, considering he couldn't see above him at all, the tunnel they were climbing up just about fit them in.

"Get the hell up there then." Elena said from below him. "I'm starting to get claustrophobic down here."

Emily, tried to let go of the bars to screw the metal lid off, but the vertigo she got when she let go was enough to make her grip back on. Leaning back, still holding on, she pressed her back against the cold wall, praying it was clean. As soon as she was putting enough weight on it so as she couldn't fall down, she lifted her hands to twist the covering off.

A small click indicated it was off, and pushing up, light streamed into the small hole.

"Hello." A high melodic voice said as Emily looked up.

"Crap."

* * *

_Meanwhile, Mizaki and Katashi, you lead Yuffie, Cid, Barret and Vincent into the Cells and get Blondie and the other one out._

"Geez, this place gives me the creeps." Yuffie muttered as they silently walked down the murky hallways of the prison.

They had managed to sneak in via, once again, the tunnels. Using the ones which were closer to the surface and with a entrance slightly closer to the cottage. It might have been possible to use the same excuse Emily had with Reno and Tifa, but since then the security had been raised, and it was unlikely they would be let in without an escort.

"You're not the only one." Mizaki said. "And I've grown up with this."

"Willingly?" Yuffie asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Never." Mizaki murmured. "We would never work for her voluntarily. But we were brought here when we were young, brought up as fighters. She threatened our families if we didn't stay." A quiet sigh was heard from Katashi, which surprised them, it wasn't usual for the tall fighter to make any noise. "We've been here all our lives, Katashi was born here, as were some others, they know no other life." She paused for a moment. "But we would all like one. Most of the time we purposely mess things up, which, admittedly, can get us in trouble, but it's so worth it." She grinned, fishing out a ring of keys from a pocket clipped to her jeans. She also picked up a torch from the wall.

The stairs were, as usual ridiculously dark, and Yuffie almost slipped, letting out a small squeak of surprise, which Katashi quickly stifled by catching her, shocking the small girl into silence.

At the bottom, there was a small scuffle as Mizaki tried to find the right key to open the door. Once light flooded the long staircase, Mizaki suddenly became serious, the cheeky grin disappearing.

"Come on then, they're just round the corner."

The six of them padded as quietly as possible towards the cell they knew contained their friends.

"Here we go." Mizaki said, stopping in front of the cell.

"Cloud?" Yuffie asked cautiously.

"Yuffie?" Came a voice from inside, before a blonde head appeared through the bars of the door.

"Cloud!" Cid and Barret said simultaneously.

"Move people." Mizaki grinned, her attitude suddenly returning, as if it could be turned on and off just like that. "We need to get out of here soon." She flicked through the keys on the ring, trying to find the right one.

Once the pair were out, the group hurried down the long hallway.

"This way!" Mizaki quickly led them through a small door on their left, and into a dark corridor.

"I hate this place." Yuffie muttered darkly after she nearly tripped. They had been running for what seemed to be an eternity before Mizaki finally skidded to a stop, Yuffie nearly skidding into her. They didn't seem to be anywhere in particular, just a corridor, no doors, nothing. Just a long corridor stretching into the distance.

"Mizaki, why have we.... oh." Yuffie trailed, seeing who was running towards them. "Elena!" She exclaimed, running to meet her. "What's happening?"

Elena was breathing hard, trying desperately to catch her breath and talk at the same time, gripping hold of Yuffie's arm. "Back...at the... tunnel.... Fumiko....."

"Is everyone okay?" Mizaki cut in, appearing next to the pair.

"I...don't know....Tifa and Emily are fine, and....I think Tseng is too....but...I don't know what....happened to....to..." She buried her face in Yuffie's shoulder, sobbing. Yuffie looked at Mizaki with wide eyes, a horror-stricken expression on her face, eyes screaming for answers they were not going to get.

Mizaki inwardly panicked, her breath coming out in short gasps. Who knows what Fumiko could do? She was too powerful.

Her expression hardened. "Yuffie, Elena, calm down, we can sort this out, everyone is going to be fine. Katashi, and....um... you two, whatever you do, do not mention a word about...well...anything. And you two, um... whatever your names are..." she pointed at the ex-prisoners, "urm...just follow us, you'll see what's going on pretty soon." She put a gentle hand on Elena's shoulder. "Everyone is fine, trust me." She said softly. She turned to the empty tunnel ahead.

"Let's go!"

_Of course, if things go wrong.... um.... Just Wing It._

* * *

**A/N: Rushed ending, I'm sorry, but I kept getting distracted by the Harry Potter musical ^^ I hope it makes sense, if not PM me, and i'll try and explain without giving too much away. **

**Please review, they are my inspiration. I hope you enjoyed, and I'll ty and get the next chapter written soon ^^**


	13. Secrets Revealed

**A/N: Well here it is, and happy new year everyone, hope it's a good one.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, apart from my OC's.  
**

* * *

"I don't quite like the sound of that." Reno muttered, as he heard the familiar high voice from above, and the slightly louder cuss from Emily.

"I don't think you're the only one." Tifa murmured from just above him.

Elena was just trying to breath normally, she wasn't too happy at being in such a tight space, her breaths were coming out in short gasps, and to make matters worse they had just been caught. Perfect.

"Now Emily, what do you think you are doing?" She heard the melodic voice chime from somewhere above her. This was not going to end well.

"Elena, get out, we need at least one of us out of here." Reno hissed down at her. Of Course there was no way down from here, Tseng was directly below her.

"Tseng, go down, we need to get out while Emily is still distracting her." She tried to look down at her superior, but when she did all she could see was him shaking his head. Looking around him, she could see glowing eyes in the pitch blackness below. They were trapped. It was either down into the unknown world of glowing eyes, not knowing who, or what they belonged to, or up to Fumiko and her group of followers. Breaths coming out short and fast she looked around her, trying to think of what they could do.

"Go, down Elena." Reno hissed, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"I can't, something's down there." She whispered back, leaning back slightly to rest against the wall.

But there was nothing to lean against. She let out a sharp squeak, which was quickly cut short when she remembered where they were, as she fell back, falling into a small channel leading off the tunnel they were climbing up.

"I think I may have found a way out." She whispered up.

"Then take it, now." Reno said back as Tifa was lifted out the hole. "I don't think so." He hissed up, climbing up to follow her, not wanting to be separated at a time like this.

Elena quickly found the floor of the passageway, at about knee-height, sitting down and scooting backwards and out of sight, unfortunately leaving Tseng to be seen by Fumiko.

"Only one more." Elena heard her say as Tseng climbed past her.

"I'll get help." She whispered. "I'll get you out, I promise." She saw Tseng barely incline his head as he climbed on past.

As soon as he was out the lid was placed back on the hole, covering the small blonde in darkness. She pulled her knees up to her chest, shivering slightly.

They were gone. Taken by the enemy. They had left her, alone.

'_I have no idea what to do.'_ She thought, turning to look down the long narrow tunnel behind her. Somehow, despite the lack of light from above, she could just about see the walls. She lifted a hand in front of her face. All five fingers, somehow she could see them.

Light!

There must be a source of light somewhere. She looked down the tunnel, there was a small glow coming from somewhere near the end, to the right, or at least, it looked like the end.

She turned fully, and, on her hands and knees, crawled towards the light. The turning where the light was glowing turned out to be another ladder, leading up towards a square hole in the wall, covered with a wire mesh. She quickly climbed the ladder towards the light.

She reached the mesh and cautiously peered out.

It was an empty white room. She slumped in frustration, sighing deeply. She needed to know what happened to them, if they were hurt or not, and where they were.

"Bring them in here." A voice sounded as the door to the side opened. In marched...well glided Fumiko, a guard marching behind her, and then in came Tifa, Emily, Tseng.... But no Reno.

Where was Reno?

"Where have you taken him?" Tifa growled at the raven haired woman.

Now Elena could see her, she realised just why everyone seemed so scared of her. She was wearing tight black and blood red corset, embroidered with dark blue roses. A long black skirt flowed from under the corset, pooling around her feet. As her gaze moved upwards she shivered.

Covering the top of her face, slightly covered by a lock of raven hair, was a mask, which in itself wasn't particularly frightening.

Silver wire curled around the eyes from the corners of the mask, flowing down past the edge of the mask down one cheek. It was stunning in a way, but the eyes, visible through slanted eyeholes, sent shivers down Elena's spine.

"He's....well, let's just say you won't be seeing him for some time." She smirked, black lips curling upwards.

"No..." Elena breathed. What had they done in the minute after they had split up? She had to get help, and quickly.

Feeling solid concrete above her, the only way out was either forwards, and get caught, or down.

As quietly as she could, she climbed down the ladder, and back into the narrow tunnel she had come from. From there she had two options, go back the way she came, or continue on through the tunnel to the unknown.

The unknown was sounding heck of a lot better than the darkness of the tunnel further down. Elena knew she wasn't imagining things when she saw those eyes in the rooms, but she had no idea who, or what they could be, and, in truth, she didn't particularly want to find out. So, she swiftly turned towards the long passageway ahead, not knowing where it lead.

It was a long time before anything inside the tunnel began to change, at least, it felt like a long time, it was probably only a few minutes. As she crawled, the passage became wider and lighter, allowing her more room, and not long later she was able to stand. After a while, she came to the end, where the path came onto another, and she had the option of going left or right. Either way seemed grim, it was a plain white corridor, with hanging electric lights from the ceiling.

In the end she choose right, running as quietly as she could down the corridor.

Only a few seconds in, she froze, hearing a group of footsteps heading in the opposite direction, towards her. Whipping her gun out, she stealthily tip-toed forward.

But when she saw who it was, her gun dropped to the ground with a clatter, and she rushed forwards, burying her face in Yuffie's shoulder, letting go of the guilt and stress she was feeling, sobbing softly, tears flowing freely.

"What's happening?" She heard someone ask, Yuffie probably. She gripped hold of the ninja's arm, catching her breath.

"Back...at the... tunnel.... Fumiko....." She managed to get out, pulling back and drying her face. She needed to be strong here, for everyone else, for those here, and those who had been caught.

"Is everyone okay?" Mizaki cut in, appearing next to the pair.

"I...don't know....Tifa and Emily are fine, and....I think Tseng is too....but...I don't know what....happened to....to..." A New wave of emotion washed over her, and she could feel the tears once again flowing down her cheeks. She felt thin but strong arms surround her, stroking her hair, calming the small blonde. Elena was panicking, breaths coming out in sharp gasps. She looked up, looking around at the group. Rude and Cloud were the first she could see, and she could feel relief flood her mind. At least they were out. Vincent, Cid and Barret were standing with Katashi, and Mizaki was standing with Yuffie and herself, her expression showing she was deep in thought.

"Yuffie, Elena, calm down, we can sort this out, everyone is going to be fine. Katashi, and....um... you two, whatever you do, do not mention a word about...well...anything. And you two, um... whatever your names are..." she pointed at the ex-prisoners, "urm...just follow us, you'll see what's going on pretty soon." She put a gentle hand on Elena's shoulder. "Everyone is fine, trust me." She said softly. Elena nodded, wiping her face with a clean spot on her sleeve.

"Let's Go!" Mizaki exclaimed, and with that, they were running down the corridor, past the tunnel Elena had used.

Yuffie caught up with Mizaki.

"Why can't we tell Cloud and Rude about Turkey?" She asked quietly, barely heard over the running footsteps.

"Who?" Mizaki asked, confusion filling her expression.

"Reno." She replied softly.

"Oh." She looked away, up front. "You don't know just how evil Fumiko can be. I don't know what she's going to do, and I don't want to get their hopes up."

Yuffie seemed a little shocked at this, but then, she mused, she had never met this Fumiko, she didn't know what she could do. And truthfully, she didn't want to think about it really, Tifa was in her grasp, who knows what Fumiko could do to her. And though she'd rather not admit out loud, she had become quite fond of Reno, despite how annoying he could be.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. Mizaki stopped them with a hand at a corner.

Stealthily she glanced around, one hand resting on her gun, just in case. When she saw the coast was clear, she silently ran to the large closed door halfway down the next corner, signalling for the others to follow, but quietly.

Once everyone was surrounding the door, a few on either side, Mizaki gently pushed at the door, and it swung open silently and with ease.

The room inside was a large pentagon shaped hall, with what looked much like a moat surrounding the platform in the middle, five doors, including the one they were standing at led into the hall, each with a narrow bridge leading from the doorway to the platform.

And, standing in the middle of the platform, was Fumiko, her red eyes glowing in the semi-light, smirking, showing off pure white teeth. Half the group took a unconscious step back at the sight of her.

She was standing alone, which made the sight even more creepy, she never went anywhere without at least one guard. Her long, ball-gown like skirt pooled on the floor around her feet.

"Hello." She said, her voice echoing around the empty room. "I see we have another traitor in our mists." Her grin grew even more feral. With a click of her slender fingers, a light came on higher up, showing a large balcony.

"Tifa!" Yuffie and Cloud yelled up as one.

"Emily!" Mizaki gasped at the same time as Elena whispered, "Tseng."

Emily and Tifa were struggling against the guards, tears streaming freely down both faces. Tseng wasn't struggling, but it definitely seemed as if all he wanted to do was shoot the masked woman. Emily was trying very hard not to yell down obscenities at the smirking woman, who wasn't even looking at them.

"Oh no." Elena whispered. When the rest of the group looked at her in confusion, she explained. "Something must have happened to..." She trailed off, glancing worriedly at Rude.

"Yeah, it's the only explanation." Mizaki agreed.

"Something must have happened to who?" Cloud demanded.

"Oh, they haven't told you?" Fumiko interrupted, and all heads whipped towards her.

"Told us what?" Cloud asked.

"Before you say anything, you haven't killed him have you?" Yuffie asked, "Because if you have...." Her face darkened considerably.

"Killed him my dear?" Fumiko said, acting shocked, but the smirk ruined the effect. "Of course not you silly little girl, why would I want to kill the greatest experiment we have ever come across. No we haven't killed him yet, though I would have thought him stronger than he is, he's certainly nearing death." She scowled. "Little weakling." She muttered as an afterthought, which elicited a low growl from Tifa.

Confusion was apparent on every face by the doorway.

"Hang on, I think things are a bit mixed up here, I don't think we're talking about the same person." Elena ventured.

"Oh don't you?" Fumiko said smugly. "Because actually I think we _are_ talking about the same person." Elena looked even more confused, and quickly glanced up at Tifa, Emily and Tseng. Tifa had stopped struggling, and was slumped over, tears dripping from her face.

Eyes flicking back to Fumiko, she caught a flash of red as the raven haired woman smoothed out invisible creases in her skirt. She let out a sharp gasp, quickly cut off by a hand over her mouth. She looked up to see Mizaki, shaking her head, her own eyes wide.

"I knew I recognised him." She breathed.

"Who?" Cloud hissed, Rude nodding behind him. Neither knew what was going on.

Yuffie sighed, turning back to the pair. "Look we didn't want to tell either of you 'til we knew for certain he was going to be okay."

"Who?" Cloud repeated.

"Who do you think?" Came the melodic voice from behind. All turned, just in time to see Fumiko move out of the way to reveal the broken body laying on his side on the ground behind her.

One wing was spread out behind him, the other half draped over his body. Cuts and bruises littered his pale skin, and his right leg seemed to have been re-broken, along with an arm. There seemed to be a cut on his head, if the blood seeping out from under the red hair was any indication.

"Oh, god, Reno." Elena Gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, but not able to stop the moisture that was gathering from flowing down her cheeks. She heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her. Spinning round on her heel, she came face to face with Rude. Well, Rude's chest, he was a lot taller than her. She immediately regretted looking up at his face, the pain, grief and shock on the usually calm face shook her right down to her bones. Cloud was no different.

She spun back to the scene in front of her, but found that sight to disturbing as well. Shutting her eyes, she prayed this was all a dream and any minute she would wake up, and everything, right from the moment Reno left for the mission weeks ago, would be a dream. A comforting hand surrounding hers confirmed this was no dream. Opening her eyes, she looked at Yuffie.

It was kind of funny though, the girl she had no real contact with before now, save the few fights years ago and a few hellos in the street when it was all over, and she was the one comforting her.

"Strange isn't it?" Fumiko's voice brought them back to reality. "Just how many secrets there are in this room, and how many are coming to the light in such a short space of time."

It was then that Tifa broke free from the guards, leaping off the balcony, fists raised to attack the red-eyed woman, her own eyes alight with anger.

Despite how thin and weak she looked, Fumiko was able to dodge, grab Tifa's wrist, and bring her round, strong arm round the girls neck, knife pointing into her stomach. Tifa seemed shocked at how fast and graceful she moved.

"Here's another secret about to come to light." Fumiko said, then pointed at Cloud with the knife. "You, blondie, You like her don't you?" She asked, smirk back on her face. "As in 'love', right?" She drawled, almost spitting out the word 'love'.

"I- uh- Well I-" Cloud stuttered.

"I'll take that as a yes." Fumiko muttered. "So what would you do if you found she was with someone and didn't tell you, her 'best friend'."

"What?" Cloud looked at Tifa, who met his blue eyes, her wine ones apologetic. "Who?"

In one swift movement, Tifa was thrown onto the floor by Reno, Fumiko looking as if she hadn't even moved.

"Reno?" Yuffie asked, bewilderment clear on her, and many other's expressions. "Seriously? When did that happen?"

Tifa didn't look as if she had heard them, as she stared down at Reno. Lifting a hand she gently stroked the side of his face, brushing her thumb over the scar under his eye.

"Tifa?" Yuffie asked again.

"Uh guys?" Came Mizaki's voice from somewhere behind. They all turned around, Guards had surrounded the group.

"Oh dear." Elena muttered, backing up slowly with Yuffie on the bridge over the gap. Turning to glance around the room, she saw guards at every door.

There was a soft chuckle from Fumiko. "You're trapped." She said with a grin.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you go, thanks for reading this far, and reviewers, thanks fro reviewing ^^. Seriously, this chapter was planned to be shorter than this, I wanted it finished by 9pm, it's now half eleven. I can't believe this took me all afternoon and evening to write. But then I suppose I did get distracted a fair bit.**

**Anyway, please review, it's brings inspiration and light to this authors dark world ^-^  
**


	14. The Final Day

**A/N: Well, I was hoping to get this out last night, but got too tired and fell asleep, so I thought finish it when I get home from college tomorrow. No can do. Collge along with thousands of other schools, was shut due to an exessive about of snow. Nearly twenty cm!! so of course I couldn't pass up the offer of a snowball fight. In the end I was out all day, bulding a snow igloo against the wall in the church car park with friends. I must admit, the igloo was epiclly awsome. It had a door and everything ^^ **

**Anyway, on with chapter 14**

**Disclaimer: I will never own final fantasy. On the of chance I do inherit the company, You'll be the first to know. But the likelyhood of that happening is like me wearing completely pink out in public. (Never)  
**

* * *

"Now what?" Hissed Elena, backing up across the bridge. She glanced downwards, suddenly wishing she hadn't and almost throwing up all she had eaten that day. As hard as she tried, which wasn't very hard before she began feeling dizzy, she could not see any traces of the bottom, whether that was because it was designed in such a way that it gave the illusion of a never ending pit, or it actually was a never ending pit, she would never know, or never really want to know.

"We're a little stuck." Yuffie replied, trying not to look down. She had never really been afraid of heights, but chances of surviving after falling down there looked pretty slim. But right now even that wasn't the worst threat to their lives, and mental and physical health.

Fumiko, however, looked as if she had just won the lottery, smug grin and glowing eyes portraying pure evil happiness.

With the rest of the group finally on the platform and surrounded, it was time to move on the step two of the plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tifa was still on the floor, tightly holding Reno's uninjured hand, watching, powerless, the situation turn from bad to worse in front of her. Trying to look as calm as she could, she looked up to her sister and Tseng, still struggling against the guards, trying, wanting, to help.

"Ti...fa." Came a faint voice from the floor. Snapping her head back to the redhead, she was met by a pair of green eyes, barely open.

"Oh Reno." She gasped, bending over the weak form, gently pushing on his shoulder so he was lying on his back, and putting both hands on either side of his face. "Are you okay? Tell me what happened? How bad does it hurt?" She gushed, eyes filling with tears.

"I don't think I got any of that." Reno muttered back. "I'm fine, I've been through worse than this." He said, trying to sit up, failing miserably. Tifa put one hand on his shoulder, keeping him on the floor.

"Don't do that to me." She whispered, resting her head on his chest. "I thought.... I thought I'd lost you."

"Can't get rid of me that easy." Reno smirked, looking up at the ceiling. Faintly, coming through what seemed to be a gap, a small stream of light was pouring into the semi-lit room, morning had broken. He closed his eyes, trying to remember something from his past that was nagging at the back of his head, something that might be able to save them. If only he could remember.

* * *

"_Hello little one." A high harmonious voice almost sung out behind him. He didn't want to turn around, something inside of him was telling him not to. He was perfectly content staring at the blank wall of the examination room he was in, small fingers playing with the cloth on the metal table he had been placed on. But against his own will and better judgement he turned, looking right into a pair of blood red eyes._

"_Gah." He jumped back. Or tried to jump back, and slender hand grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving. The redhead whimpered, trying to draw back from the masked face. Another hand came up, index finger stroking down the side of his face. He could feel the long nail scratch down his skin. _

"_What lovely eyes." She muttered, grinning, evil clear in her expression. "It's a shame I can't get you to do what I want." She smirked even wider, showing pure white teeth._

_With the long, sharp nail on her index finger, she scratched a deep crescent moon shape under his right eye. Blood immediately began to flow steadily down his cheek, green eyes betraying the pain he refused to show. _

"_And with that, you are under my control." Fumiko cackled. She looked down at the boy, expecting a blank expression looking up at her, instead she got a cocked head, looking up in confusion. "It didn't work." She muttered, bending over to look into his eyes. Nothing seemed to have happened._

_Growling low at the lack of reaction, she tried again on the opposite cheek, scratching deep, blood beginning to seep down both cheeks, making the redhead look as if he was crying blood. He tried not to show he was hurting, putting on the best poker face he could, but still finding his eyes showing the pain he did not want to reveal. _

"_I will get you under my control. You just wait." The brunette snarled, before turning and storming out the room, heels clipping on the hard floor all the way._

_

* * *

_

Well, it certainly wasn't what he needed to defeat her, but there was definitely something in there that could help them.

"Tifa." He shook her shoulders with his good hand. Lifting her head, she looked at him, quizzical expression on her face. "We've got to warn them, she's got poison, in her..." He struggled for the right words. "Claws." Seemed about right, she was a monster. "It's a controlling poison, it'll put them under her rule, that's how she's controlling the guards."

"You think that's what she's going to do to them, put them under her control?" Tifa said, looking up at the tall brunette, anger flaring in her eyes.

As Tifa began whispering warnings into the earpiece that even Reno didn't know was there, the redhead looked further into his memories, still thanking whatever higher power they hadn't yet been killed. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear Fumiko giving some elaborate speech about how they would all soon be under her control, and how the world would bow to her.

* * *

_It was late, the moon had already risen high in the sky, casting a white light through the small windows that lined the top edge of the large warehouse. Reno was curled up in a small cage among many others, trying to get though another night with no sleep. He was getting very little as it was, a good hour or two a night, not much more. He curled up tighter, fighting the cold. _

_Suddenly voices were heard, and a pair of high heeled shoes clipped down the long flight of stairs leading from the upstairs of the building next door._

"_What have we told you about going into the light?" One voice, a male, scolded._

"_I know." That was definitely Fumiko. "I Know. But the snow out there, it was just so beautiful, I just couldn't resist."_

_Ah snow, that's why it was so cold. But what are they saying about the light? _

"_I don't care, you could've died out there, your body cannot take that sort of light and heat, you should know this. If you die we lose everything we've ever worked towards." The male continued, sounding much like a scolding father._

"_Yes, I know." Fumiko spat out, sounding like the teenage daughter getting in trouble. "But come on, please. Can I go out tonight. There's meant to be a huge snowball fight down in the local town. It's night so..."_

"_No." _

_So Fumiko did have feelings after all. It sounded as if all she wanted to do was be a normal girl for one night. _

_

* * *

_

"That's it." Reno breathed, catching Tifa's attention away from talking to Yuffie down the earpiece.

"What's it?" She asked, confused.

"I know how to defeat her." He replied, glancing around the room for some kind of switch that could open the skylight above them. "Look at her back." He said. Tifa did as instructed, confused. Was he trying to be as vague as possible? Besides, Fumiko's back was hidden completely by her hair. She didn't know what on earth he was going on about.

Meanwhile Reno was still frantically searching for a lever or something that might help them. He was so far coming up with no results.

But then, glancing over the high walls he saw it, a large pull down lever with the words skylight written on the wall next to it. He knew it worked, something inside him told him he had been in here before, watched it being opened. Either way it was their only hope, Fumiko was getting dangerously close to Elena, who was holding her ground and glaring right back at her.

"See that switch over there?" He breathed out, keeping his voice as low as possible. Tifa looked over to where he was indicating with his head, nodding as she saw it. "I think that is our solution."

"You think?" Tifa whispered sceptically.

"Hey, I'm no genius, but for now it's out best bet. Unless you can think up something better without getting us killed." He said.

"Fine. But how are we going to get there? There's no platform and it's a good thirty feet in the air above a never ending pit."

Reno simply looked at her as if she was stupid. "You're kidding, right?" He said incredulously. Tifa simply stared down at him as realization dawned.

"No. Look at how hurt you are. I'm not letting you." She said stubbornly.

"As much as I really do agree with you there, we haven't got much of a choice, it's this or let them, and us die." Reno reasoned, pointing out the obvious. He was the only one who could reach it.

Tifa sighed in defeat, it was a lost cause, there was no fighting the logic. "Fine, but you better go before she gets bored with them and moves on to us."

So, moving as slowly as they could at first, Tifa helped him up, noticing the glances they were getting from the captive group, Rude in particular was catching her attention, for a man so well known for his constant poker face, she could see the hurt and relief in his expression. She glanced up at Emily, catching her eye, trying to tell her to cause some sort of distraction. And fast.

Emily got the message, quickly working out what they were trying to do. She began struggling once again, trying to make as much noise as possible, yelling curses and random words down at Fumiko, easily catching her attention.

While everyone was dealing with the loud one known as Emily, Tifa crept backwards with Reno, holding him steady, as he shook out both wings, testing them quickly to make sure neither were injured. Once everything was proven to be in working order, Reno got ready to take to the air, praying no one would notice. As if they wouldn't. He was simply going to have to be fast, he could dodge bullets. He hoped.

"Be careful." Tifa whispered, squeezing his hand. Reno responded by placing a sound kiss on her lips, pouring everything he was feeling into the kiss, not knowing what was going to happen. When they parted, breathless, Reno smirked.

"When have I ever not been?" He said, before silently taking off into the air, powerful wings beating up and down. He sped towards the switch as fast as he possibly could.

Suddenly, a single shot rang out in the hall, echoing throughout the room. Reno had just reached the switch when he heard it, and only a split second later felt the bullet whistle past his ear. Too close.

"Hey, Fumiko." He yelled down, one hand tight on the switch, while the other hung uselessly by his side. There seemed to be a small ledge jutting out from the wall, which he was able to stand on.

Fumiko was close to scratching Elena, and, upon hearing the gunshot from one of her guards, spun around to face the Redhead by the switch. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she held up a hand to stop the guards from firing. Reno grinned, raising his eyebrows.

"You know you don't want me to do this." He said, looking around at the others in the room, all of which were looking up at him, confused. Tifa and Emily however were both grinning, they had worked out what he was going to do.

"Truthfully, I don't know what you are talking about." Fumiko said, closing her eyes and turning her head away.

"Then why do you look away? I know what you are really like. Or what you _were_ like." Reno said, pulling down ever so slightly on the lever. Fumiko snapped her head back, horror written plain on the lower half of her face. "how long ago was it now? Twenty, twenty one years ago? I believe I was six at the time. Or something, lost all track of the day and year by that point. I heard you saying about how you wanted to go out and play in the snow. You really were just a teenager just wanting to get out."

"I was no teenager." Fumiko growled, looking right up at him.

"Oh?"

"I'm nearly three hundred years old. An immortal, I'll live forever, never changing, I'll stay young forever." She shouted up. "I'll live forever." She repeated, quietly. "And you will never defeat me! I will take over the world!" She screamed, taking a few steps forward.

"You may be immortal, but you can still die." Reno said, before pushing as hard as he could on the lever, the huge skylight creaking slightly from lack of usage. Sunlight quickly streamed through the gap as three plates split and moved away from each other.

Fumiko screeched and tried to move away from the light that was closing in on her. But she didn't get very far as Tifa grabbed her from behind, holding her arms to her side and keeping her from moving any further.

Struggling, Fumiko found all her strength drain from her as the light drew closer.

Tifa was forced to let go as the light touched the captive woman, skin becoming too hot to bear. All eyes turned away as a blinding light filled the room, coupled with a ear-piercing shriek.

The light disappeared as quickly as it came, and the next thing everyone saw was a silver wired mask, clattering to the floor.

* * *

**A/N: ****I was going to have the bullet actually hit Reno, but decided I've put the poor guy through enough. ****And it's official, my planning for this story has reached it's end about halfway through the last chapter. The main planning finished a few chapters ago, but I did have a few notes on a few more chapters, and now those have stopped, so I'm now making it up as I go along. Please tell me if I'm doing a good job at it. **

**Anyway, thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far. I do try to reply to all my reviews, but if I do happen to forget, I apologize now. Sorry. But please do carry on reviewing, they are my inspiration.  
**


	15. It's Over At Last

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this entire story, except for Emily, Mizaki, Katashi, and Fumiko...oh and the plotline. But other than that, nothing. Not one little thing. It's depressing.  
**

* * *

As the morning light filled the room, so did small white snowflakes drifting slowly down from the clear sky.

Cloud took a few steps forward past the now immobile guards, stopping in front of the place Fumiko had once been standing. He bent down, picking up the mask, almost dropping it again because of the heat of the metal. Gingerly holding it until the heat had died he turned to face the rest of the group.

"She's gone." He confirmed. Everyone stayed silent in respect. She may have been evil, but that was no reason to show a lack respect for the deceased.

"Well, I suppose we can't hang around here forever." Yuffie chimed cheerfully, breaking the calm that had taken over the room. "Is everyone accounted for?" She asked around, trying to count everyone, but failing because of her rather short stature.

"They will be." A voice piped up from somewhere half-way up the wall. Everyone looked up to see Reno, sitting on the switch. "As soon as I find the energy to get down." He glanced downwards at the pit of darkness, grimacing at the sight.

"Oh, um, well, it's not far, can't you jump?" Tifa asked, standing near the edge, looking up.

"Sure, but that'll be one heck of a ungraceful landing." He said, stretching out his wings in preparation, before leaping off, and landing, like he said, ungracefully, on one foot, trying to keep the other from touching the ground. It was, after all, broken. Again.

Tifa ran to the place he had landed -fallen- catching him before he fell face first into the floor. "You okay?" She asked softly, helping the redhead stand and limp shakily over to where everyone else was standing.

"Well, considering the fact that I have two broken limbs, a few cracked ribs, cut and bruises everywhere and who knows what else, just fine."

Next thing he knew, he had a faceful of blue material, Tifa's arm magically disappearing from his waist. Frozen in shock, he couldn't do anything until whoever it was pulled back, apart from trying to work out who it was hugging him.

The jacket material was definitely blue, and quite soft, just like the Turk Uniform, meaning it could be one of three people. Elena seemed most likely, she was the one most expected to randomly hug people without warning. But she was a good head shorter than him, and unless she had suddenly grown in the past hour, it wasn't her. Tseng? Please, as if. He had never been particularly affectionate, in any way, shape or form. Apart from those very rare occasions they managed to get him very drunk. And so, by power of deduction, it could only be one person.

"Rude?" he asked, pulling back. "Hey, buddy." He grinned, still slightly awkward at being hugged by the second most unlikely. (Rude wasn't particularly huggsy either). The sunglasses wearing Turk simply smacked the redhead on the side of the head, smiling slightly.

Reno began to protest, thought about it for a moment, then gave up, slumping slightly and grinning sheepishly. "I suppose I deserved that one, huh?" Which was well received with 'Definitely', 'hell yeah' and a loud 'my turn' from someone, couldn't quite tell who.

"So you seemed to know her." Cloud pointed out. "How?"

Reno shrugged, losing his balance slightly, leaning back on Tifa again. "She kidnapped me from somewhere when I was a kid, 'cause of these stupid things." He explained, lifting one red wing. "She's a scientist." As if that made everything obvious.

"That doesn't explain how you got the wings Reno." Yuffie pointed out.

"It was ShinRa." Emily said from above. The guards had let her and Tseng go and now she was sat on the edge of the balcony, Tseng standing just behind. Everyone seemed at least a little shocked at this new revelation, Even Tseng raised an eyebrow. "I remember Mizaki saying something about it."

"Of course." Mizaki exclaimed. "I remember my parents talking about some new experiment they had got from ShinRa twenty-something years ago. Something about part bird-part human."

"Oh, where you by any chance the little hyper kid that used to come down to the cells a lot?" Reno asked, looking up at the sky, then back down at the small brunette, who giggled, grinning.

"So you _do_ remember me?"

"Vaguely."

"HEY! Any chance of getting out of here?" Elena called out, interrupting the conversation. "As much as I would love to carry this lovely reunion on, the guards are beginning to creep me out." She finished, shuddering.

"Relax." Emily said, jumping down from the balcony, landing gracefully on the ground. "They're long gone. Fumiko's dead, her entire system breaks down. Including the guards." She smiled innocently. "You guys go home, I'm going to go tell everyone who was forced into working with her she dead. Mizaki and Katashi, you coming?"

"Yes ma'am." Mizaki saluted, grinning. Katashi, being the strong and silent type, simply nodded in agreement.

"We'll hunt you down in a week or two, 'kay?" Emily smiled, skipping towards one of the doors, pushing a guard off the bridge way. They were robots right, they didn't matter, right? A clunk sounded out, sooner than expected. The brunette looked over the edge. "Well, wasn't expecting that. It's only a good six feet down." She laughed, pushing open the door and disappearing, Mizaki and Katashi following.

"Thanks for the goodbye." Tifa muttered dryly, glaring after her.

"Anyway, we need to find a way out." Reno said, gently nudging the brunette.

"Yes, but before that..." Cloud started, and everyone groaned.

"What? I want to go home. I miss my little apartment you know." Reno said, glaring daggers at the blonde.

"Tifa, any reason you didn't tell me -sorry- anyone, about you two." He indicated Reno, who simply grinned.

"Because less than twelve hours after we got together he 'died'." She said, pushing the redhead towards the door. "Now can we please go, I want him in a hospital in the next hour, alright? So move."

* * *

In the end it took them two hours to find a way out, getting lost many times on their way to an exit. Even bumping into Emily again, and having to ask for directions.

Eventually though Tifa was pushing Reno, covered in bandages, down the white hallways of the ShinRa hospital, humming to herself, annoying the heck out of the Redhead, when a certain blonde appeared next to her.

"So you found him, huh?" Rufus ShinRa asked, smirking across at her.

"Hey, you ditched the chair." Reno exclaimed from below. "Always knew you never needed the thing."

"You have it Reno." Rufus said, a completely blank expression on his face.

As Reno checked out the wheeled chair he was sitting in, Rufus turned back to Tifa. "I must congratulate you. You found him. A bit battered, but still." He smiled. "How about your other task, any news on him?"

Tifa raised her eyebrows. "You don't know?" She asked, which was rewarded with a blank expression. "You're bluffing. You seriously don't have a clue?" She said, a smug smile working its way onto her face. Still nothing. Tifa grinned widely. "I found nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Absolutely nothing." She beamed. "Let's go Re." And with that, she hopped on the back of the chair, the momentum pushing it forward. The pair sped down the hallway, laughing the whole way.

* * *

"Here are the documents for Reno's recovery sir."

Rufus looked up from his desk, at the meek messenger, a low ranked doctor, with a rather bored and tired expression. "Leave them on the desk." He told the man, before going back to his paperwork.

It was a while before the director got round to picking up the documents, late into the night, with only his desk light as illumination, and opened them to find the usual, boring pieces of paper. Plus X-Rays, which weren't usually put in the documents, unless particularly important or interesting. Rufus sat up, pulling out the plastic sheet, and holding it up to the light.

The chest x-ray didn't seem very different from any other, a few broken ribs, except there seemed to be _something_ different with it. But he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Picking up another sheet, he held it to the light to see, and his jaw dropped.

It was a wing, a bird wing, yet it seemed to be attached to the shoulder blade of a person.

....Reno couldn't be....

Could he?

* * *

**A/N: EDIT: Added to the ending, hope it's a little better ^^  
**

**And there you have it. My first finished multi-chapter story. Ever. I don't wanna say goodbye to it. It's my baby *sobs* Anyway. *Pulls self together***

**Anyway, a big thanks to everyone who reviewed throughout the whole thing, without you this never would've happened. GROUP HUG! I love you all. Please keep them coming, even if its been ages. I like knowing what you all think ^^**

**Long A/N right? I really don't want to let this go. So there's going to be one last installment coming soon. Look out for it. I mean, I can't just leave it right? ^^**

**See you all soon ^^  
**


	16. Epilogue

"Daddy Daddy, you're home!" A small redhead ran out from the kitchen and into her father's arms. Reno scooped up the giggling five year old, grinning and laughing along with her. He ticked the small girl, making her squirm and laugh loudly in his arms.

"Hey, Yuki honey. How are you today?" He asked once the giggling girl had calmed down enough and he had her held securely on his hip. The smiling redhead held up a piece of, slightly crumpled paper, which had a picture of a tall man with spiky red hair, a slightly smaller brunette woman, and two smaller girls, one with red hair, the other dark haired in between the two.

"That's lovely. You drew this?" He asked, taking it from the girl to have a better look. The redhead nodded vigorously, grinning from ear to ear.

Reno walked into the kitchen, Yuki still in his arms, where Tifa was standing over a mixing bowl, trying to make cookies. Failing, but at least she was trying.

"Hey, where'd this one get her artistic talent, cause it sure as heck wasn't me." Reno said, smiling wide as Tifa jumped slightly at his voice. Yuki giggled again, hugging her father tight before asking to be let down, and running out the room.

"It must have been you." Tifa said. "Have you seen my drawings?" She turned back to the dough when Reno slid his arms round her waist, looking over her shoulder into the bowl. "She's been spending time with Emily today actually, which is probably where all the inspiration for the drawings came from."

"Hmmm... Stupid talented nearly sister-in-law." Reno muttered, kissing her neck.

Three combined groans sounded from behind, and the couple turned to see Emily standing with Yuki and Kaori, the almost identical twins. The only difference between the two was hair colour. Yuki got her father's shocking red hair, while Kaori got Tifa's dark brown. Both girls had wine red eyes, and freckles.

"Oi, come on you two, there are children in the house." Emily said, patting the two heads either side of her.

"Yeah, I can see three of them now." Reno said, smirking at the brunette, who stuck her tongue out at him. "My point exactly."

Once the three had gone back to the living room, Tifa turned back to the cookie dough.

"So how was work?" She asked.

"Boring. Nothing's happening at the moment. So Me and 'Lena decided to redecorate Tseng's office." Reno said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh, you re- You What?" She exclaimed as it sunk in. Once it finally did, she burst into laughter. "That's brilliant! Why? Simply because you were bored?"

"That's one of the reasons. The other is that he never seems to leave the office, even on a week off, and we thought, since he's babysitting the girls tomorrow...well, let's just say it's now every five-year-old girl's dream."

Tifa just laughed even harder, resting her head on the hard wood of the kitchen counter. "He is going to be so mad you know. I hope you have a good excuse for it, or you are so fired, and I don't want that." She giggled, turning to face her fiancé. She knew too well he wouldn't get fired, and he knew that too. Sure he would definitely be asked to clean it up, but once Elena used puppy eyes on her boyfriend, Tseng was bound to forgive them.

"I still don't see why we're not getting a takeout tonight." Reno said, changing the subject completely. "It's our engagement, why do we have to do all the work? I think we've done enough." He paused running a hand through his hair. "I know I have." He finished, thinking back to the night he proposed. He had spent all day at Rude's, making a four foot long hole in the floor from his pacing. He was, to put it simply, a nervous wreck. Even after facing everything he had, right from his childhood, that was still the most terrifying experience of his life. Barring, of course, that day three years ago during that food fight at work, where everyone ganged up on him. He had to have an hour long shower to get everything out his hair.

"Because... well..." Tifa tried to think up a good reason, coming up with nothing. "You're right. We'll go order once the first person has arrived. It usually takes a while, especially with the amount we'll be getting." She sighed, giving in. "You're just lucky I hadn't started yet. We'll use all the food for dinner over the next few days, Emily's staying with us for a few days, so it certainly won't go to waste."

Reno looked horror-stricken, and was about to say something when the doorbell rang. "I'll get that." He muttered, slumping off towards the front door. Tifa hit him lightly over the head with the wooden spoon. A clean one of course. She didn't want a repeat of _that_ freak out (The food fight incident).

"Hold on." She said, suddenly thinking of something. Reno turned around, halfway to the kitchen door, a look of confusion passing over his face. Tifa smirked, walking towards him, her smirk getting bigger, if possible. Reno began to look a little worried. At least until she pressed her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck. Reno's confusion turned into a smile as he kissed back, deepening the kiss as he wrapped his arms round her waist.

The doorbell rang again in the background, but neither noticed, too lost in each other to hear it.

"I'll get the door then." Emily said loudly as she stalked past, glaring mockingly at the couple, muttering something along the lines of, 'stupid romantic git.'

* * *

**A/N: Thats it.... That's finally it. *Cries* The epilogue is a few years in the future, as you may have guessed. I know it's short, but I hope you enjoyed, everything. Please keep the reviews coming. I love opening my inbox and finding reviews for stories I had finished ages ago. It's a nice feeling and it give me inspiration to write more. I may even write another ReTi story, or even a Emily story. Any requests for these would be great, preferably one-shot ideas, I have an ongoing multi-chapter, and it was hard enough juggling two this time round. **

**Thanks to every single one of you who reviewed. I love all of you soooo much. You're awsome people. **

**I hope we all meet again soon ^^  
**


End file.
